Beast Mode
by Hugh-Jainus
Summary: Izuku does have a quirk! With his morphing ability, the power of OFA, and a wonderful supporting cast by his side, can he really achieve his dream of being the next Symbol of Peace? Villains! School work! GIRLS! He has no shortage of hardships to face, but that's what being a hero is all about. Elements of Teen Titans. Semi OOC Izu & Baku.
1. Chapter 1

" **EVERYTHING IS FINE! WHY? BECAUSE I AM HERE!"**

The deep, booming voice of All Might bellowed throughout the computer room as the shelves shook from the reverberation from the speakers. This must've been the thousandth time that Izuku has watched this video, at least that's what his mother said. But one could hardly blame a young boy for wanting to see such an amazing video over and over again.

All Might was the coolest hero ever, and this particular video, depicting him saving hundreds of civilians at once with that signature shining smile on his face, was by far Izuku's favourite.

"All Might is so cool! I wanna be just like him, I'm gonna be a great hero someday! Right, Kacchan?"

"Fuck yeah! But you are gonna have to fight me for the top spot, Deku! Don't think you can surpass me!"

Bakugo Katsuki had to be the only person that Izuku knew that was as big of a fan of All Might as he was. The two boys met on the first day of kindergarten, and their mutual desire to be amazing heroes along with their idolization for the #1 hero helped them become fast friends.

Izuku referred to Bakugo as "Kacchan" simply because Katsuki was a little too hard for him to say. Bakugo had a similar instance where he saw Izuku's name in writing and misread the kanji. There was a debate between the two over Katuski referring to Izuku as "Deku" due to the reading that Katsuki interpreted meaning "One that is useless or cannot do anything", but ultimately Izuku was convinced that it was just a nickname like "Kacchan" was.

"Just you wait, Deku! Once we get our quirks there will be nothing to stop me from being the greatest hero ever! Better than All Might, even! And don't worry, you can be my sidekick!" Bakugo was a confident kid who never shied away from speaking his mind in his signature loudmouthed style.

"Whaa, come on Kacchan~! I don't wanna be a sidekick, I wanna be a hero too!" Some would say that Izuku and Katsuki's opposing personalities were part of the reason they were good friends. One was brash and expressive, the other timid and reserved. They sort of balanced each other out in a way and affected how the other acted at times.

Katsuki crossed his arms and looked away with a pout, but after a few seconds, he turned back to his friend with a smirk. "I'll think about it."

The two boys shared a smile and turned back to the computer screen that they were previously looking at. "Wanna watch it again, Kacchan?"

"Fuck yeah! Rewind that shit, Deku!"

Just as the two boys were about to restart the video, the door to the room burst open to reveal Katsuki's mother Mitsuki glaring at her son.

"Katsuki! What the fuck did I tell you about swearing, you little shit?!" She grabbed her son by the ear and began dragging him across the floor and out into the hallway, with Katsuki kicking and screaming the whole way.

"Arrghhh, let go of me you old bat! Deku, save yourself!" Izuku stood petrified with fear as Mitsuki yanked her son out of the room and around the corner out of sight. Moments later, Izuku's mother Inko peeked her head into the room and gave her son a nervous smile.

"M-Maybe it's time to take a break from the computer for today...Come to the kitchen for a snack?"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Izuku was sitting under a tree in the playground, writing away in his notebook about heroes that his mother had gotten him. Ever since she and Kacchan had helped him learn how to read and write, he found the perfect outlet for his countless thoughts and ideas about all his favourite heroes.

The rest of the kids in class preferred to run around and play all break and usually left Izuku alone, which was fine by him. Izuku liked to play as much as any kid, but sometimes it was nice for him to just unwind and fill some pages out of _Hero Analysis for the Future_. By his sides, several squirrels had scampered down from the treetops and stood near him, eyeing his activity curiously.

Izuku always wondered what it was about him that animals were so drawn to. Everywhere he went, if he stayed outside anywhere for long enough, wildlife would eventually come towards him. He didn't mind much, though. Animals were so interesting to him and were probably his favourite thing after heroes. The case with animal-themed heroes was a whole other conversation in of itself.

"Deku!" Izuku was shaken out of his train of thought when he heard his best friend call out to him. He looked up to see Katsuki sprinting towards him and skidded to a halt in front of where he was sitting.

"Oh hey, Kacchan. What's up that has you so excited?"

Katsuki stood there for a moment, hands on his knees and hunched over to catch his breath. "Huff...Huff...Deku! I just came back from the doctor's! Check this shit out!" Izuku raised an eyebrow for a moment before the gears clicked in his brain and he immediately leaped to his feet in anticipation.

Katsuki held his hands out, palms facing towards the sky, and made a face of pure concentration. Slowly his palms began to emit smoke before they suddenly ignited into small orange sparks. "I got my quirk! Isn't it badass?"

Izuku's eyes were gleaming with excitement as he watched his best friend showcase his newly developed quirk. "That's so cool! Kacchan you have a super awesome quirk! How does it work?"

Katsuki smirked victoriously, "The doctor said my sweat is explosive, like some chemical called nitroglycerin. I can make explosions in my palms and blast bitches to bits!"

Izuku had his notebook out to a fresh page and began furiously writing. "Well, that actually makes a whole lot of sense considering your parents' quirks. With Auntie Mitsuki's Glycerin quirk and Uncle Masaru's Oxidizing Sweat quirk, it makes perfect sense that when combined, you could make sweat that could explode. It really is cool how your quirk is like a perfect combination of your parent's quirk like some kind of perfect recipe. Just think about all the different things you could do with your quirk…" Katsuki stood with a throbbing vein, impatiently seeing Izuku fall into another one of his incoherent muttering spells. He and Izuku were both fairly smart for their age, but the green-haired nerd had way too much shit packed into that egghead of his. A light bulb went off in Katsuki's head and a sadistic smile stretched across his face. He put his palms on either side of Izuku's ears and activated his quirk.

*POP POP*

"AHHHHHH" Izuku leapt about 20 feet in the air and landed unceremoniously on the ground, leaving Katsuki rolling on the floor with laughter and the rest of the kids in the playground looking their way, wondering what was going on.

As both boys got up from the ground, Katsuki wiping a few tears from his eyes and Izuku rubbing his behind with a pout, a crowd of other kids formed around them.

"Hey, Katsuki you got your quirk?" One girl asked. He nodded and showed the rest of the class in the same way he had demonstrated to Izuku earlier.

Many oooh's and aaah's were had at the revelation of such a powerful quirk. "Wow, so that makes Katsuki the 4th kid in class with a quirk now." As more and more kids praised Katsuki's quirk and swarmed him with questions, he felt something very warm welling up within himself. He slowly formed a wide grin and faraway look in his eyes as the compliments and questions poured in.

"I'm amazing…" This was it. The moment that Katsuki knew would come eventually. This was the moment that he knew it would be clear that he was cut from a different cloth from everyone else. With this quirk, nothing could stop him from reaching the top and being the strongest hero of all time. Out of the corner of his eye, Katsuki noticed Izuku behind the crowd, returning to his seat under the tree and begin to write in his notebook with a barely noticeable frown on his face. Katsuki stared at Izuku for a few moments, now completely ignoring all of the kids around him. "That nerd…"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Izuku and Katsuki were walking through the forest, knee deep in another one of their wonderful adventures into the great unknown. It had been two weeks since Katsuki had manifested his quirk, and the ash-blond hothead was finally getting the hang of controlling his explosions. In fact, it had been almost 3 days since he accidentally blew something up and got scolded by his mom.

With his hands crossed behind his head, Katsuki stopped walking, causing Izuku to bump into his back.

"Oof— Kacchan why'd you stop like that?" Izuku held his butterfly net in his hands, tilting his head to the side in confusion as to why his friend decided to just stop in the middle of nowhere.

"Deku…" Katsuki stared down Izuku with his arms crossed, a frown on his face. "What the hell is wrong with you, huh?"

Izuku gulped, "I-I don't know what you're talking about, Kacchan. W-What do you mean?"

Katsuki smacked his hands together, creating an explosion powerful enough to startle Izuku onto his butt. "Don't give me that bullshit, you fucking nerd! Why the fuck have you been acting so off lately? And don't give me some garbage excuse, or I'm gonna blast your face to the moon, got it?!"

Izuku wrung his hands around the handle of his net nervously. "W-W-Well...It's just that...You already got your quirk and it's so strong and everything...What if I get mine and it's not good enough for me to be a hero like All Might...A-And I can't keep up with you...I mean my mom's quirk is only attracting small objects, and she never told me anything about dad's…"

"Shut the fuck up, Deku!" Katsuki got right in Izuku's face, a furious scowl on his own. "What kinda pussy ass talking is that huh?! Who cares about your mom's quirk or about your deadbeat fucking dad?! You don't even have your quirk yet and you are already acting like a pathetic little chode!"

Katsuki grabbed Izuku by the collar and bore a hole through his face with his intense stare, "You think All Might never had to do stuff that was hard? You think he was crying like you or did he say 'Fuck it' and keep going?! Of course you'll never be as good as me, I'm awesome! But if you keep acting like a little bitch before you even know what your quirk is, you'll never be shit. I'm not gonna waste my time carrying around a useless little bitch, Deku!" Katsuki let Izuku go and turned away from him with his arms crossed.

The two stood silent for a few moments, the only sounds being the wind whistling through the trees and the faint babbling of a brook somewhere past the treeline.

Izuku sat on the ground, staring at the ground with his hair shadowing his bright emerald eyes. ' _Would a hero feel like this? My story hasn't even started yet...I need to get to the start line before anything else! That's what a hero would do...That's what All Might would do, right? Kacchan is not gonna stop for me, no one is. I need to think like a hero and stay strong!'_

Katsuki tapped his foot impatiently. If the damn nerd was not gonna shape up soon, he was gonna blast the shit out of him and ditch his ass. Just as Katsuki's patience was about to run out, he felt a hand grip tightly on his shoulder. He turned to see Izuku with a look he had never seen before in his life. There was a gleam in his green eyes that was undeniably defiant and full of fire.

"Kacchan…" Izuku kept his expression steady, "Thank you."

Katsuki scoffed and smacked Izuku's hand off of his shoulder. "Shut up. I don't need your shitty thanks. You still ain't shown that you are anything but a pebble." Despite the harsh words, Izuku knew Katsuki well enough to read between the lines and nodded with a smile.

"Just you wait."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Izuku felt as satisfied could be. His mom had just taken him out for a super special dinner for his 6th birthday where he had the chance to eat his weight in katsudon before sharing a delicious ice-cream sundae with his lovely mother.

He had received wonderful gifts from both his mother and the Bakugo family, but what Izuku really wanted more than anything was for his quirk to finally manifest. Most of his class had gotten their quirks already, and Izuku was starting to get worried about why his was taking so long. To be fair, quirks manifested anywhere between birth and about 6 or 7 years old, so he was still within that window, but that didn't make it any easier for him to wait.

A visit to the doctor had revealed that he may be a late bloomer, as his physical growth was slightly behind some kids his age as well, meaning that it was entirely possible for his quirk to be just as behind.

So all Izuku could really do was wait and see. Kacchan had yelled at him for not doing more to prepare for heroics besides researching, so he tried to be more active and trained with his blonde companion. He also asked his mom to let him learn some sort of martial arts, but he wouldn't start until later in the year.

As he and his mother were turning the corner onto the street of their apartment building, Izuku noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. Curiously, the young boy peered into an alleyway to see something rustling between a few bags of trash.

"Izuku, come on honey don't go playing in the trash, it's dirty." Inko tried her best to scold her son, but the young mind was too curious to be stopped at times. She followed Izuku towards the source of the rustling to see her son kneeling before a small Rottweiler puppy.

"Hey there little one, where'd you come from?" Izuku stuck his hand out, and the puppy tentatively moved towards him. Izuku closed the rest of the distance, petting the dog on its head. The puppy slowly warmed up to the affection and began panting happily. Inko moved towards the two, but that startled the dog and it hid behind Izuku's leg.

Inko observed the physical state of the animal and could tell that it had been out on its own for quite some time. And from the look that Izuku was giving it, she had a feeling where this day would be going. Even so, she had to at least _pretend_ to put up some sort of fight so Izuku wouldn't become too spoiled.

"Mom, she's all alone. Can we keep her?" Izuku was a master of the puppy-dog look, and it did not help at all that Inko was a sucker for all things Izuku. She did her best to put up a strong front and crossed her arms.

"Now, Izuku. Having a pet is a big responsibility—"

"I can do it, I promise! I'm gonna be the best hero ever, right? I can save her and take care of her! Please, mom!" Izuku was bowing before his mother, and the dark-coated puppy was curiously mirroring his actions causing Inko to be almost overloaded at the cute display.

' _How can I say no to this? LIke I could have said no, anyway…'_ Inko sighed. "Okay, Izuku. We can keep her."

"Hooray!" Izuku cheered as he scooped up the puppy into his arms.

"But you are giving her a bath as soon as we get home!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Izuku sat on the floor of his room, playing with the newest addition to his little family. Luckily, one of their downstairs neighbours was giving away some old dog stuff, so they didn't have to buy as much as they would've otherwise.

As he tossed a rubber ball across the room for the umpteenth time, his mind ran rampant with what having a dog would change for him.

"Hmm, I can take you for walks before school, and then after dinner. Oh, you can go on adventures with me and Kacchan! He seems kinda mean at first, but he is my best friend in the whole wide world! Oh, wait...What should I name you?" Izuku reached down and scratched his puppy behind the ears, eliciting contented growling as she leaned into her new owner's ministrations. "What would you like to be named, huh? What would you like to be named~" Izuku affectionately scratched the pup's exposed belly, smiling at her happy reactions. Suddenly, the dog rolled over onto its feet and began looking around Izuku's room. Understable, being in a new environment and all.

The puppy slowly padded her way around, sniffing every now and then, and stopped under Izuku's bed, where she sniffed several more times before ducking under the overhanging blanket and pulling out one of Izuku's All Might action figures that must've fell off of the shelf and gotten pushed under there.

"Hey, hey, hey! Be careful with the teeth!" Izuku carefully took the figure from the dog and inspected it for any scratches or noticeable imperfections. He was relieved to see his figure still in mint condition, the smiling face of All Might smiling back at him. Izuku was particularly proud of this figure, it was ultra rare and there were only 100 in existence. He wiped it off and carefully placed it back onto the shelf above his bed. Eyeing the special "Hero of Hope" costume the figure donned, Izuku's eyes lingered on the large "HOPE" written across the plastic All Might's chest. He turned to his puppy, who was sitting and looking up at him with a head tilted in curiosity. "Hope, huh…"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Deku was really pushing his damn luck. He always took his sweet ass time, and Katsuki almost always found himself waiting for the nerd to show up. The blonde sat impatiently on top of a large rock just outside of the forest that he and Izuku frequently explored. "That stupid fucking fuck…He better have a good fucking reason for this shit."

Just as Katsuki was about to dive further into an anger fueled rant about punctuality and making people wait, he saw Izuku running towards him with some kind of dog or some shit running behind him.

"Hey Kacchan! Sorry for taking so long!"

"Shut up, Deku! About time you fucking showed up! And what's with the dog?" Katsuki bent down to inspect the puppy, who carefully edged towards the stranger in front of her.

"Oh, I found her last week all on her own. She had no one else, so I couldn't just leave her there." Izuku bent down and gesture towards Katsuki. "Go ahead, girl. Don't be shy, this is Kacchan."

The dog turned from her owner towards Katsuki, and began sniffing him out. After a few moments, she yipped happily and lept into the boy's arms, licking his face repeatedly.

"Argh, get off ya damn mutt! Stop l—Ha ha stop licking me!" Katsuki could barely contain his laughter as the animal assaulted his face with affection. After a few hilarious moments of witnessing the adorable scene, Izuku stepped in and pulled his dog of off his best friend's face.

"What the fuck, Deku?! Control your damn dog!" Despite trying his best to be angry, Katsuki couldn't wipe the gleeful grin plastered on his face. He wiped his wet face with the bottom of his t-shirt and tried his best to regain his composure. "So...what's her name?

Izuku smiled and ruffled his pet's head. "Nozomi. I feel like taking her in off of the streets gave her hope for a proper life, so she should represent the kind of hero that I want to be. One that stands as a pillar of hope that everyone can look up to and rely on."

"Pfftt, that's pretty lame, Deku." Katsuki turned his nose up at Izuku with his arms crossed. Hesitantly, he turned his head towards Nozomi and stuck his hand out. Nozomi waddled up to him and licked his hand affectionately, causing Katsuki to smirk in approval. "Heh, at least she knows I'm awesome. Alright, we've wasted enough damn time. C'mon Deku!" Katsuki broke into a run and disappeared into the woods.

"See, Nozomi? Kacchan is a good guy once you get to know him." Nozomi barked in approval before the two ran off after their friend.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Izuku, Katsuki, and Nozomi had made their way to a clearing overlooking a small pond where they sat to relax for a few minutes. The pair of boys took turns tossing a stick into the distance for Nozomi to fetch.

"Hey, losers!" They turned to see a group of kids from their class standing a few feet away from them, a mix of cocky smirks and angry frowns among the crowd. The apparent leader of the group was Honeshi, one of the kids in their class with a 'powerful' quirk, and was the self-proclaimed king of their grade until Katsuki manifested his and quickly showed him up.

Never one to be talked down to, Katsuki immediately leapt to his feet with a scowl own his face and stepped towards his opposition, as Izuku and Nozomi trailed slightly behind him. "The fuck did you say, you little bitch?! You think I can't take you, Skellington?" A vein formed on Honeshi's forehead at the nickname regarding his quirk and he had to be held back by a few of his cronies before he sprouted any bones from his arms.

"C'mon Kacchan, it's not worth it. Just leave them, let's just get outta here." Izuku put a shoulder on his friend to try and reason with him, but it was quickly jerked off.

"Shut up, Deku! How the hell you gonna be a hero if you keep letting fuckers like them talk shit about you?!"

"You should listen to your boyfriend, Katsuki. There's no way you can take on all of us by yourself. What is Izuku gonna do, huh? He doesn't even have a quirk yet!" Every one of Honeshi's lackeys began laughing along with him, deeply angering Katsuki and even slightly miffing Izuku.

Honeshi's laughter was interrupted when a combusting palm impacted squarely in his face with a ferocious BOOM.

"Arghhhhh!" Honeshi fell backwards like a ton of bricks holding his smoldering face, his group of hooligans too stunned to move.

"Don't fucking talk about shit you ain't know nothing about! Deku is ten times what you plebs could ever be!" Katsuki growled. He instinctively turned his head and glared at Izuku so that he wouldn't mention what was just said or try and say some corny shit.

"Let's get the hell outta here!"

"You're gonna pay for this, Katsuki!"

The group of boys picked up their sobbing leader and ran away into the woods, leaving Katsuki with a victorious smirk on his face and Izuku walking up to his side shaking his head.

"Sheesh, you got him pretty hard Kacchan...Was that really necessary? Who cares what they say? I know I'm not as weak as everyone thinks."

"Shut up, Deku! Let's get the fuck outta here, I'm hungry." Katsuki shoved his hands into his pockets and trudged off.

Izuku nodded and turned to call his dog. "Nozomi!" He looked around, a bit confused. "Nozomi! Where did you go?" Izuku was starting to panic a bit, "Kacchan, she's gone! You must have scared her off with your explosion! Come on, hurry! We have to find her!" He wasted no time before breaking off into a sprint into the trees.

"Damn it, Deku! This isn't my damn fault!" Katsuki gritted his teeth before sprinting off after Izuku. "Nozomi you little fucker, you better not be lost!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Izuku looked around frantically as he called out Nozomi's name over and over again. He could feel his composure begin to plummet as he saw no signs of his beloved dog anywhere. Stopping to take a breath, Izuku bent over with his arm holding himself up against a tree.

"Huff...huff...huff...Okay, calm down. I won't find her if I am just running around like crazy. I need to think about this. Heroes find missing people all the time! I just have to be like a hero. Okay…" Izuku caught his breath and did his best to calm himself. "If I were Nozomi, what would I do? I need to put myself in the mindset of a dog, think like a dog, think like a dog…"

Izuku slowly opened his eyes and felt...different. Had he always been this low the ground? What was wrong with his eyes, everything looked weird and grey. He tried to look down at his hands but he...he couldn't see them! He could feel his arms and legs, but no fingers or toes! What was going on? Why was he on all fours?

Izuku stepped out of the pile of fabric he was somehow buried in...Wait...That was his clothes! Why was he naked?! Why did his clothes get so big, or did he shrink? The poor boy was thoroughly confused, but his inner freakout stopped when he caught the scent of something very familiar. "Nozomi? *Sniff sniff* That way!" Without another thought, he ran off in the direction of his rottweiler puppy.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Katsuki was getting more and more irritated by the second. First, that damn Skellington bastard comes and starts talking shit, then Deku's dumb cute dumb dog runs away and they have to find it! Now, Katsuki can't even find Deku! "Gahhhh!" Katsuki pulled at his spiky blonde hair in frustration.

He then noticed something odd several feet ahead of him. "What the hell…" Katsuki trailed off as he came upon a pile of clothes...The same clothes that Izuku was wearing...He then say paw prints in the dirt, and sighed in relief. "Finally!" Katsuki broke off into a run, following the trail of prints towards what had to be Nozomi and a naked Deku for some reason. Katsuki chose not to question it, he was too hungry to care.

Reaching the end of the trail of footprints, Katsuki looked around for any sign of the nerd or his dog, when he heard barking nearby. Heading in that direction, Katsuki stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Nozomi playing with another rottweiler, except green instead of black and brown. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the scene again, confused that he still saw the same thing.

"What the hell?" Both puppies turned their heads towards him and made a mad dash in his direction. Nozomi leapt into Katsuki's torso and nestled herself comfortably inside his shirt with her head poking out of his collar, while the green dog jumped around yipping frantically. Katsuki unconsciously rubbed Nozomi's head while he eyed the weird green dog suspiciously. He looked down at Nozomi's happy expression with a raised eyebrow, "Where did the nerd go?" Nozomi barked and pointed her small paw towards the green dog before them. "Hehhhh?! Whaddya mean 'That's Deku'? That's a damn dog, you damn dog!"

The green dog barked several more times at Katsuki before, before his very eyes, it started to transform!

Katsuki stood slack-jawed as the form of rottweiler began to disappear as the parts of a human began to take shape. The form slowly stood up to reveal a slightly confused looking, and _very_ naked Izuku.

"Uh...hehe...I can explain?"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"So your quirk...is that you can turn into a dog?"

"Well when you say it like that, it doesn't sound cool, Kacchan!"

"That's because it isn't cool!" Katsuki exclaimed, "What the hell kinda hero could you be if you can only turn into a dog?!"

"Actually, Kacchan, there are plenty of canine related quirks among heroes...I think even—"

"God damn it, Deku! You know what I'm trying to say! Couldn't you have a quirk to at least turn into a cool animal, like a lion or something?!"

Izuku, still sitting naked on the ground, sighed wistfully, "Heh, yeah...that would be pretty cool, huh? Imagine me, turning into a lion…"

Katsuki turned to face Izuku, "Well anyway, let's get the hell outta here, I'm fuckin' starving—"

...He was now facing a green-furred mountain lion staring at him inquisitively.

" _AHHH It happened again?!"_ This came out as a series of low growls, mind you.

Katsuki's arms fell lifeless at his side, "Did you just—"

Izuku transformed back to his human form and sat on the ground with a sheepish grin on his face. "Hehehe...Guess my quirk _is_ pretty cool after all, huh?"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

After a long-awaited meal, Katsuki and Izuku spent the rest of their afternoon experimenting with the latter's quirk to try and see just what it was capable of.

As it turned out, Izuku's quirk allowed him to transform into any known animal that he could think of. Reptiles, birds, Izuku could do it all. For some reason, Katsuki particularly enjoyed it when Izuku tried to turn into different insects, but he spent the majority of his time trying out more battle-ready animals. He felt particularly cool transforming into a giant Eastern lowland gorilla, towering over his 6 year old friend.

Izuku spent hours testing out his quirk, long after Bakugo got tired of it and went home, and was barely able to trudge home with Nozomi energetically bouncing by his side.

"I'm home…" Izuku drawled out as he dragged his feet through the doorway.

"Oh, Izuku! You're back later than usual, did you have fun on your adventures today with Katsuki-kun and Nozomi?" Inko said, wiping her hands on her apron.

Izuku was suddenly full of energy again, shooting to his feet with a wide smile on his face, "Mom, mom, guess what? I got my quirk today!" Inko's jaw hit the ground before she scooped her son up into the air and twirled him around in circles.

"Oh, honey I'm so happy to hear that! I'm sure you must be so excited to learn all about it and be the best you can be!" The Midoriya matriarch wiped a few stray tears from her eyes as she led her son into the living room. "Honey, show me your quirk! I want to know exactly what to expect from my little hero-in-the-making!"

Izuku nodded vigorously before running to the centre of the living room. He scrunched his eyes in a state of focus before transforming into a green rottweiler puppy and leaping onto his mother's lap, panting happily up at her.

"Ahhhhhh! So cute!" Inko grabbed puppy-zuku and began rubbing their cheeks together affectionately. Izuku squirmed in her grasp and back onto the ground before transforming back to normal.

"Cool, huh? I can transform into any animal I can think of!"

"It is amazing, sweetie! But...why are you naked?" Inko asked with a sweatdrop.

"Oh, well my clothes don't change when I transform, mom. Actually, I had to take my clothes off so they wouldn't rip when I turned into bigger animals. When I get my hero costumes, I'm gonna have to get some kind of material that can stretch and shrink so I'm not naked all the time. I can't be a hero if my pee pee is out all the time…"

"Izuku."

"...I bet there are heroes that have transformations that can mess up their costumes unless they are made from special materials…"

"Izuku."

"I wonder if I can get that kinda stuff too? Then I'd always have to have it on or else I could not use my quirk as much as I want. I wonder if I will wanna eat what my animal eats after I transform. Oh, what else might happen after I become a certain animal…"

"Izuku!"

Inko finally shook her son from his ramblings and held his shoulders square so that they were facing each other.

"Izuku, I just want to let you know. You're gonna be a wonderful hero someday!" She pulled her son into a loving embrace, which he immediately returned with as much strength as his little arms could muster.

Both Midoriya's had steady tears forming down their faces as they enjoyed the tender moment,

"Thanks mom. I'll make you proud and be the best hero ever."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Izuku and Katsuki rounded the corner on their way towards the park a few block away from their school. They found that this park was perfect for training, as it had a large jungle gym that they could maneuver through, and a swing set because well...swings are the best.

"Hey!"

The two turned around to see the group of boys from a while back, as angry and douchey looking as usual. Honeshi was once again leading the pack, but he was now sporting a large burn spreading across his face, courtesy of Bakugo's attack. This time, he was much more prepared, already having activated his quirk to produce dull bone rods from his arms.

"You asswipes aren't gonna get away so easily this time!" Honeshi shouted, as his cronies activated their various quirks and surrounded the two friends. "You're gonna pay for this." He spat out, pointing to the mark on his face.

Katsuki growled with anger and his palms started sparking, "You talk a lot, but all I see is a bunch of bitches who are about to get their asses kicked!"

"Come on guys, why do we have to fight? We aren't supposed to be using our quirks in public either, we could get in trouble! Kacchan don't let them make you ma—" Izuku was interrupted by a sucker punch to the back of the head, knocking him down to the ground as he clutched his head in pain. That strike served as enough distraction for the group of almost a dozen to get the jump on Katsuki, overwhelming his quirk and strength via sheer force of numbers.

Katsuki managed to get a few solid explosions in on the mob, but there were simply too many of them for him to handle at once. He quickly found himself on the ground, trying his best to shield his face and sternum from the barrage of fists and feet raining down on him from above. However, he knew he could only keep his shell of defense up for so long, feeling the brunt of more and more hits as time went on.

Just outside of the circle of boys' beating down on Katsuki's fetal form, Izuku lay on his stomach, trying his best to make sense of what had just happened to him.

His head was spinning, and could barely hear muffled grunting and yelling over the ringing in his ears. Beginning to shake the cobwebs off, his vision cleared and he made out the group kicking the crap out of Katsuki. Seeing his best friend in such a state made Izuku's blood boil, and as he shakily rose to his feet, the green-headed boy could feel his anger coursing through his body.

"S-stop it…" He mumbled, clutching the back of his head. "Stop…" Izuku found his bearings and felt a rage well within him that he had never felt before, " **GET OFFFFFFFF HIM!** "

The guttural cry of pure rage shook the playground to its very core, causing every one of the group to turn around and widen their eyes in fear.

Katsuki let out a shaky breath and was barely able to keep his non-swollen eye open as he took on the form of Izuku. Despite the pain he was feeling all over his body, Katsuki let out a pained chuckle, "Heh...Damn nerd...You bitches are fucked..."

Honeshi and his gang were frozen in fear, staring face to face with a literal beast, Izuku in the form of an enormous green Siberian tiger staring them down. Izuku bared his sharp fangs and slowly edged towards them, a low growl rumbling out of his throat.

"W-W-W-W-What the hell is that?!"

"He's a monster!"

Honeshi barely had time to shriek in fear before Izuku pounced forward and knocked all of his cronies out with a single swipe of his massive front paw. He landed and snarled at the terrified boy, who was now on his behind, shuffling back as fast as he could.

"G-G-Get back! Stay a-away!" Honeshi swiped his arms wildly in front of him, trying his best to fend off the ferocious Izuku stalking towards him angrily. Izuku came to a stop mere inches away from the boy, growling quietly but staring him dead in the face.

Izuku then let out a vicious roar, causing Honeshi to scream in utter terror and scramble to his feet in attempt of escape. However, Izuku managed to grab onto his pant leg, yanking the boy's trousers down before tearing them to shreds.

Honeshi was left to run home crying, pantsless and in dire need of a new pair of underwear.

Immediately after being left alone, Izuku, still in his tiger form, made his way over to Katsuki and began licking his face, trying to rouse him and clean off the blood caking him.

"D-D-Deku…" Katsuki slowly came to, spitting out a few gob-fulls of blood as he reached his hand towards Izuku's nose and let off a small explosion. Izuku jolted backwards, whining and rubbing the spot of impact. He transformed back to normal and sniffled as he held his nose.

"Kacchan, that hurt~!" He cried.

"That's what you get, nerd...Don't ever lick me again." Katsuki rose to a sitting position and wiped a forearm across his mouth, "It really take me getting my ass kicked for you to finally grow a pair, you stupid fuck?"

Izuku sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "S-Sorry, Kacchan...I don't think they are gonna bother us anymore, at least."

"I would fucking hope not. You made that bitch piss his pants. Oh and you know how your ass couldn't figure out what the hell your hero name was gonna be? I'm pretty sure I got the perfect one." Izuku leaned forward expectantly.

"But put some clothes on first, you freak!"

Izuku fell flat on his face. "Kacchan~!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone! Welcome to the second chapter of** ** _Beast Mode_** **! I am so happy with the feedback and love I've received for the first chapter! There are a lot of similar questions being asked about the capabilities of Izuku's quirk, but I promise I've already had that stuff in mind and everything will get explained in due time, so for now...Enjoy this read!**

 **Oh also, this chapter took a bit longer than I wanted to to write. I've been a little busy lately, but I definitely wanna be able to update faster than once a week if I can, so maybe be ready for that!**

 **Okay enough of my rambling!**

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Despite the world being overrun by heroes and villains with as many quirks as the human mind could imagine, there always had to be some sort of mundane or ordinary things to balance out all that wonderment.

School was one of those mundane things.

Izuku was well aware of the importance of a strong academic background and actually enjoyed learning new things. But his Junior High...Left a tiny little bit to be desired in terms of overall quality in both staff and curriculum.

This was part of the reason why he tended to zone out of whatever rudimentary lesson that the less than enthusiastic teachers would be droning on about at any given point in time.

No, instead, he made much more productive use of his time (in his mind anyway). Over the years, Izuku's passion for hero analytics had blossomed from a hobby to a full-blown obsession. He was currently on volume no. 13 of his _Hero Analysis for the Future_ with no signs of slowing down.

Even if his teachers cared a lot more about doing their jobs, Izuku had a feeling they would not bug him too much about his lack of attentiveness in class simply because his grades were so high. The only person keeping Izuku from taking the spot at the top of his class was his biggest rival and best friend, Bakugo.

If there was one thing that was a widespread fact among the students and staff at Aldera Junior High, it was that if any kids from the school had a shot at becoming a pro-hero one day, it was Bakugo and Midoriya.

Nicknamed "The Ferocious Duo" by their peers, the two boys were at the absolute top of the food chain. They ate, trained, studied, and did just about everything else together. Boys wanted to be them, girls wanted to be with them. No matter the context, everyone wanted a piece of them on their inevitable rise to the top.

"Izuku-kun~! Do you wanna go to the arcade with us after school?"

Yup, Izuku figured it was about time. At least a few times a day, different groups of girls in his class would try and get him and Katsuki to hang out with them. At first, Izuku just thought they were trying to be friendly, but Katsuki did his darndest to drill it into his head that the girls were nothing but attention seekers that wanted to be associated with them, much like most of the people in his class. At first, he thought his friend was just being paranoid, but after a while, it became clear that they all had ulterior motives.

It was a somewhat sad reality, only being wanted for association's sake and not actual friendship, but Izuku had come to terms with it a bit. He learned to let them down easy and go about his business. It wasn't like he wasn't happy with Kacchan, Auntie Mitsuki & Uncle Masaru, Nozomi, and his mom in his life.

Turning to face the trio of girls standing in front of his desk, Izuku gave them a polite smile. "Good morning, Akina, Yui, Hiyori. Ummm, I don't know...Me and Kacchan were supposed to hang out after school. Maybe ask him if he wants to go?" Redirecting girls to Katsuki was always Izuku's ace in the hole, as the blonde teen had no qualms with telling them off.

"Katsuk—"

"Fuck off! We ain't got time to hang around with you losers." Short and sweet, classic Kacchan.

Usually, this would be the end of the conversation, but from the looks that the girls were giving each other, Izuku had a bad feeling that there would be some sort of scheme in the works.

"Awww, don't be like that Katsuki-kun~!" Akina whined, twirling a strand of her between her fingers.

"Ne, Katsuki-kun...Your mom is a real estate agent, right?" Hiyori asked.

Izuku raised an eyebrow at the question while Katsuki eyed the girls suspiciously. "Yeah...what's it to you?"

"Oh, nothing…" The girl casually swung her intertwined hands in front of her "It's just that...My mom is a real estate agent too and she has a Bakugo Mitsuki that works at the same agency as her. They are friends, even. And from what I am told, Mitsuki-san talks a lot about her son and when he will finally start talking to girls. Now, what would she say if she knew that you were voluntarily telling girls off that want to spend quality time with you?" She gave her friends a victory pose as Katsuki ground his teeth in anger.

"Grrrrr...Goddamnit! Fine! We can go to the stupid arcade after school for 1 hour! And you fucks are buying." The girls squealed in delight with Izuku trying to contain his laughter from his seat behind his spiky-haired friend. If there was anyone scarier when mad than Katsuki, it was easily his mom Mitsuki. As much as Katsuki talked back to her, he always listened to his mother in the end, and for good reason. Izuku slightly shivered at the thought of an enraged Auntie Mitsuki...He had witnesses that _many_ times over his years of friendship with Kacchan.

Katsuki shot around and slapped Izuku's desk with an explosion, "The fuck are you laughing about, Deku?! If I have to go, you have to go, you fucking nerd!"

Izuku stopped laughing and groaned, "Ughhhhhhh, fine. I'll come." They were partners, after all, he couldn't abandon Kacchan, even for trivial things like this.

The girls cried in joy, causing Izuku and Katsuki to slump their shoulders in defeat. "Fucking bullshit...Damn old lady…" Katsuki muttered under his breath, arms crossed and an angry pout on his face.

They were saved from any further coercing by the morning bell, as their teacher came through the doorway and hushed them all into their seats.

"Good morning, class. Please take your seats so we can get started. As you know, you're in your third year, so we need to start talking about career paths. So, I have these career aptitude forms to fill out…But you all are aiming for the hero course!"

He threw the forms into the air as the majority of the class activated their quirks and cheered their lungs out.

"Now now, I get that you're all excited but quirk use is still prohibited. I'm not about to miss out on tenure cause you kids can't take it easy."

"Hey, don't lump me in with all these extras, Sensei!" Katsuki leaped on top of his desk and stuck a thumb to his chest. "I'm going to UA next year, where I'll claim the top spot again and destroy everyone else on my way to becoming the #1 hero! I'll be better than All Might himself and go down in history as the greatest hero there ever was!"

"You don't have to rub it in our faces, Katsuki!"

"Yeah, you don't have to act like such a damn hot shot all the time!"

Katsuki ignored the whines from his peers and continued on his egotistical monologue, "I aced all the practice exams, and with my awesome quirk, there is no way I'm not getting into UA!"

"UA, huh? Midoriya...Don't you want to go to that school too?" Everyone turned to the back of the class, where Izuku looked up from his notebook.

"Yep! I am definitely gonna do my best to get into UA. It was All Might's alma mater after all." The rest of the class murmured wildly about the possibility of _both_ of their top students getting into the national school. UA was notorious as the most prestigious hero school in Japan with a minuscule 0.2% acceptance rate and was where many of the world's current pro heroes began their journeys.

Katsuki hopped down from his desk and leaned his face right in front of Deku's, a menacing smile on his face, "Don't think that you're gonna do better than me, Deku! _I_ am the one who is gonna surpass All Might. Try not to break an arm jerking yourself off, nerd."

Despite Katsuki's visible aura of intimidation, Izuku showed no signs of backing down and simply shrugged to his longtime friend with a playful smirk on his face, "I guess we'll see then, won't we Kacchan?"

"Alright alright, that's enough you two. Please settle down, and let's get started on some really interesting stuff. Who has heard of the War of 1812?"

Yep, school was _definitely_ one of those mundane/boring things in life.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"The fuck do you mean you 'Gotta run an errand'?! What the fuck, Deku?!"

In the general sense of the word, Izuku considered himself a pretty nice guy. He tried to be kind to others and took pride in his empathy and sympathy. With that being said, he couldn't help but not feel _all_ that bad that his mom had just texted him to run a few errands after school, meaning that he could not accompany Katsuki and the three girls to the arcade.

He did feel _slightly_ guilty, but seeing all three girls clinging to his best friend like their lives depended on it, blushes to accompany their giggles of feminine delight definitely helped combat that feeling.

"My mom just texted me and said she needed some stuff from the store for dinner tonight, but can't get them herself because she is working later than usual. Sorry…" Izuku smiled weakly at his fuming friend, "I can get it quickly and meet you guys there? It should only take me like 15 minutes, tops."

Katsuki grumbled under his breath, still not exploding at the girls hanging off of him, much to the impressed surprise of Izuku. "Tch...Fine. Let's go already, you're on the clock." Cringing at the squealing teenage girls, Katsuki shot a look back at Izuku as he was being dragged out of the classroom. The message was loud and clear in Izuku's head.

 _Hurry the_ _ **fuck**_ _up, or you're dead._

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Checking the time on his phone, Izuku saw that he was ahead of schedule and sighed in relief that Katsuki would not have to be kept waiting much longer.

"Ah, I hope Kacchan isn't being too difficult. I can't imagine how he is right now with just those three girls. Hmm…" Izuku stopped at an intersection, recognizing the area as a path he and Katsuki used to take sometimes as kids. "Maybe I should take a shortcut." Adjusting his grasp on the plastic grocery bags full of dinner ingredients, Izuku headed through the tunnel.

" _I keep my ideals sorezore no tenmei— "_

Pausing to fish his phone out of his pocket, Izuku fumbled with the device before managing to hit the 'Answer' and slide it between his shoulder and ear. "Hello?"

 _{"Hey, sweetie. I just was calling to check up on you. I read on the news that there is some sort of weird mud villain or something causing some problems in town. Be careful, okay?"}_

Izuku chuckled at his mother's worrisome nature, "Don't worry mom, I'll be fine. I got all the stuff for dinner, by the way. I'm just gonna head to the arcade with Kacchan for a bit first. I'll be home in a bit to start prepping dinner…" A loud metallic rattling caused Izuku to trail off as he turned around and saw...something...emerge from the manhole he had just stepped over. "Uhh...I gotta go mom….". Hanging up and putting his bags down, he peered up at the sludge monstrosity towering over him with wide eyes.

"Looks like I've found a new skin suit to wear!" The garbley male voice yelled as tendrils formed on the sides of his body and edged their way towards Izuku. "Don't move, kid. It'll only hurt a lot!"

The sludge man tried to engulf Izuku within his body, but the green-headed boy swiftly leaped back to a safe distance, thanking his years of training for sharpening his instincts.

"Hold still, you little shit! I'm just gonna take over your body!" The villain gurgled out.

"Right, cause that is a suuuuuper desirable situation that I want to get in. You've convinced me." Izuku quipped. Looking around, Izuku didn't see anyone that could call for a hero or help in any way...or to witness if he used his quirk or not. ' _Shit, I could probably turn into something and get the hell out of here, or kick this giant booger's ass. Should I risk using my quirk in public?'_ Izuku blamed Kacchan for making him love a good fight so damn much. He was shaken out of his contemplation as the sludge villain lunged at him once more, causing him to backpedal rapidly until Izuku was cornered against the wall of the tunnel.

"You're a quick little runt, aren't ya? But it looks like you are all out of places to go. Now be a good little meatbag and hold still—"

" **DETROIT—** "

Izuku's head snapped towards the source of the voice so fast, he was surprised he didn't immediately get whiplash. There was absolutely no way in hell. Izuku had heard that he was spotted in town recently, but there had to be abso-fucking-lutely no way that he was here right now.

" **SMASH!** "

The gust of wind that followed was not one that Izuku was prepared for, and he had to brace himself fairly hard in order to even just remain on his feet. The sludge villain, however, did not manage to keep his bearings, and promptly exploded into a million little goopy bits. As the dust and drips of...whatever the hell that guy was...cleared, Izuku's eyes almost fell out of his head when he was standing before none other than the greatest hero the world has ever seen.

"A-A-A-A-A-A"

He pulled back his extended arm and fell into his classic pose with his fists planted on his hips, a shining smile on his face.

"A-A-A-A-A-A"

He sent Izuku a thumbs up and walked in his direction.

"A-A-A-A-A-A"

Now directly in front of him, Izuku realized just how much he towered over him. Izuku was a teenager still, sure, but standing at 169 cm (5'6" and a half, for you imperial users), he thought he was decently tall for his age. But the tower of muscle looking down at him...He made Izuku feel like a goddamned toddler!

" **YOUNG MAN, HAVE NO FEAR! FOR I AM—** "

"ALL MIGHT!" Izuku finally managed to scream out before his world went black.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Izuku slowly stirred to the feeling of light slapping on his cheek. Opening his eyes, he found himself face to face with the Symbol of Peace himself, _the_ All Might staring down at him.

" **Ah, good to see you are alright, young man! You had me worried there for a second!** "

It took a few seconds for Izuku's brain to register just what was going on. The scene in the tunnel before he passed out flashed through his mind, and his look of confusion was quickly replaced with pure childlike excitement.

"Ohmygod Ohmygod I can't believe it! You're All Might! I'm your biggest fan in the whole world! I've followed you since I was old enough to read I know all about all your coolest feats and everything! Can I have your autograph?!" Hastily digging through his backpack, Izuku whipped out his _Hero Analysis for the Future Vol. 13_ and flipped through it like a mad man to find an open page for his all-time idol to sign. HE ALREADY SIGNED IT!

" **HA! I already signed it, dear boy. By the way...Those notes of yours are very impressive. I have not seen such detailed and thorough analysis in a very long time, and from such a young mind at that. I am always happy to meet a fan, but I must be off! I need to take this villain to the proper authorities, I have been chasing this guy all day!** " All Might held up a pair of soda bottles containing what looked to be the sludge villain that had attacked earlier, if the creepy blinking eye was anything to go off of at least.

As All Might began limbering his legs up to depart, Izuku stood frozen, his mind running a mile a minute. There were so many things about heroics that he needed to know about. More than anything, he needed to talk to his idol about the thoughts that had been plaguing him more and more. What chance could he have like this again, with All Might literally right in front of him.

All Might squatted down and sprang high into the air, not noticing the teenage boy just being able to grab onto his leg as he was leaving the ground.

As he soared high over the concrete jungle that was Musutafu, All Might felt something squeezing on his calf and looked down to see Izuku holding on to him. Both of them looked at each other for a few moments.

" **What are you doing, young man?! I know I said I like to meet fans, but this is a little bit much! Let go of me!** "

"But if you let me go from this high up, I'm gonna die! Izuku could barely hear anything with the wind whipping so violently in his ears. He had gotten somewhat used to flying after practising extensively as different birds, but he had never gone nearly as fast as All Might — and by extension, he — was currently going.

All Might seemed to legitimately take that in as new information. " **Good point.** "

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

This was so not how Izuku saw his afternoon going. Not only did he almost get attacked by some kind of sewer monster sludge villain...thing, but he got saved by _freaking_ All Might and even got his autograph!

But none of those things combined could compare to what Izuku had learned after they had landed on the rooftop of a nearby apartment building, though.

"S-So you're saying...That you're dying?" Izuku tried his hardest to not let a crack in his voice come through his unsteady speech. It couldn't be, right? There was no way All Might was going to die. He was the greatest hero ever.

"Not me literally, per se. But the All Might that the world has come to know, the Hero All Might will soon become no more." There was something about the scrawny skeletal form of All Might that just kind of creeped Izuku out, but he did his best to not think about it too much.

"You see, a few years ago, I suffered a terrible injury fighting an absolutely notorious villain **."** All Might raised his shirt up to reveal a gruesome scar on his torso. Izuku's breath caught in his throat seeing the damage caused to his hero. "After countless surgeries and operations, my stomach and about half of my respiratory system are well beyond repair." Letting his shirt fall back down, All Might looked down at his hand, which was now clenched into a fist.

"At this point, I can probably keep my muscle-form up for around 3 hours per day, and even then that isn't taking any extreme activity into account." He turned towards Izuku, a slight frown on his face. "Now you know my secret. I don't think I have to tell you that this is not something that should be spread around."

Izuku audibly gulped. How could he not be nervous out of his mind? He just basically got threatened by All Might. It didn't matter that he was skinny right now, he was still All Might.

"Now, if that is all, I must really be going."

"WAIT!" Izuku was not even sure himself what he was really going to get out of this conversation, but he had to try. "Please...All Might...You're the greatest hero the world has ever seen, and there is no one more qualified to answer me." Izuku took a deep breath, willing himself to get everything out without sounding like a nervous little kid.

"I've wanted to be a hero more than anything else in the world for as long as I could remember. But, everywhere I look, different heroes surface and all act for different reasons. I always thought you just have to save everyone no matter what, and as long as you can make people smile, everything would be okay. But...the more I think about it, there is so much that goes into it…Politics, logistics, life/death decisions. What if you can't save everyone? What if...What if I find out I'm not good enough to protect all the people that I would be responsible for?"

Izuku had definitely grown in confidence as he grew up, thanks in large part to Kacchan pushing him and the abilities of his quirk, but sitting in front of his all-time idol, he just felt everything wash away and leave him vulnerable and in need of answers to all the doubts that had ever plagued him since he decided that he wanted to become a hero.

He heard All Might let out a deep sigh, "Midoriya, was it?" Izuku merely nodded in response. "I am going to be honest with you. If you think that any hero, myself included, can save everyone all the time, then I vastly overestimated your intellect. Being a hero means many things, but above all else, a true hero must not falter in the face of adversity and be the pillar of support that the public need them to be. From what you just told me, there is a heavy burden on your mind, and more importantly your heart. Heroes must defeat the fear inside themselves before they can even think about saving a single person. With that kind of mindset, I would have to say that you don't have what it takes to be a hero."

Izuku froze. His head began spinning, his eyes began clouding with tears. His breath became ragged, and he had to sit against the wall to try and calm himself.

"Think about what I said to you today, boy. Heroes cannot hesitate when it comes to doing what is right. Sometimes that includes making tough decisions and it _surely_ includes making mistakes. If you cannot take those decisions to heart, freeing yourself of the burden they bring, and learn from them to do better in the future, there is no hope from you. Good day." All Might said before reverting to his muscle-form and bounding off of the roof and down to the streets below.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Katsuki was going to absolutely blast that damn nerd to fucking kingdom come. How the hell did Deku worm his way out of coming to the arcade and not have to deal with these three bitches. If that one girl didn't know his mom, there was no way in hell any of this would be happening right now.

As he and the three made their way through the streets, the girls talking about just about anything and everything, Akina spoke up from her spot on his left arm.

"Katsuki-kun, do you have a girlfriend?"

"No." Was his irritated reply.

"Do you want one~?" The girls stepped forward and stopped in front of him, posing for him in what they thought to be a provocative manner. Katsuki didn't so much as blink as he continued walking by them with his hands dug into his pockets.

"No. And stop acting like such whores, you're 15. I wouldn't spit in weak girls like yours' directions, anyway. Now hurry the hell up, I know a shortcut to the arcade through this back street."

The trio of girls stood watching Katsuki's back as he kept walking. They each shared a determined pout and nodded to each other. "Katsuki-kun likes to play hard to get!"

This caused Katsuki to stop in his tracks and he turned around with disbelieved scowl on his face. "Hahhhhhhhh? You bitches brain-dead or something? Where the hell did you get that stupid ass idea, huh? You wanna fucking die?!" Katsuki had both of his palms out, crackling slightly as his irritation grew into legitimate anger. The looks of utter fear on the girls' faces brought him some satisfaction, but looking at their eyes, he was confused by the fact that their gazes weren't on him, but...Behind him?

"Well if it isn't just my luck! Another potential skin suit to camoflauge in, with such a strong quirk too! I'm gonna enjoy this, blondie!" Katsuki slowly turned his head around to see a wave of sludge leap in his direction.

Getting his palms out in front of him, Katsuki let of an explosion strong enough to propel himself back out of harm's way. "You three, get the fuck outta here!"

The girls, presumably too scared to move, looked at Katsuki in disbelief, "But Katsuki-kun!"

"Go! I'll take this prick on!" Waiting for the girls to escape out of the other end of the alleyway, Katsuki turned back to the sludge villain and rolled his sleeves up. "You think you're some kinda hot shit, huh?! Lemme show you just who you're messing with, you big pile of snot!" Launching himself forward with an explosion, Katsuki zipped across the alley in an instant and stopped above the villain, where he aimed his hands down, wrists connected. "Eat shit!"

*KABOOM*

Katsuki landed and smirked as the smoke cleared from his attack and all that was left was a mess of a pile of goop. "Haha! Take that, you shitty fucker!" Turning around to step out of the alley, he heard the slimy battle cry a second too late as he suddenly found himself engulfed completely.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Izuku could not remember a time where he had felt so defeated. How could he not, after being told what he as by one of the people he looked up to most in the world. Walking aimlessly down the street, the harsh but fair words of All Might rang throughout his mind.

' _Am I really not cut out to be a hero? Wanting to be a hero who makes people feel safe with so much as a smile...That's all I've ever known to want. I have a burden on my heart that I need to overcome, huh...I know I can overthink sometimes, but...How can I just completely shut my thoughts out when there are so many things that can happen?'_ Izuku sighed heavily as he slumped his shoulders. "Oh shit, I should probably call Kacchan and let him know I'm on my way. I hope he didn't blow up at those girls too hard. Wouldn't put it past him, though…"

Izuku tapped his foot impatiently as the line rang, "Voicemail...Not like Kacchan to not answer his phone. I guess it's probably loud in the arcade or something."

Just as Izuku pocketed his phone, a massive explosion rumbled the ground beneath him. "What the hell…" He looked to see a massive plume of smoke in the sky...in the exact direction of where the arcade was. "Shit!" He exclaimed, breaking into a mad sprint towards the source of the explosion.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Please stay back, everyone! The villain is unstable and could launch attacks in this direction at any moment!"

Izuku panted as he came to a stop, just outside the scene being barricaded by pro heroes and the police. Digging his way through the crowd, he eventually made it to the front, where he saw a plethora of pro heroes trying to contain the situation. Notably, Backdraft putting out fires, Kamui Woods rescuing civilians from the blast zone, and Death Arms and Mt. Lady just...standing there?

"Why aren't the heroes trying to go in and confront the villain?"

"Apparently their quirks aren't suited to deal with a villain made of sludge. The only one that could is probably Backdraft, but he is busy trying to put out the fires from the explosions."

Izuku turned from the people talking in the crowd and back towards the centre of the square, where his eyes widened when he saw the same sludge villain that had attacked him earlier in the day.

"That's…" How did this guy escape? All Might caught him in those soda bottles and put them safely away in his...pants...pocket...The same one that Izuku grabbed onto before they went up in the air...Shit! Izuku had his head in his hands, ' _This is my fault...I need to do something to fix this...But..Can I really? Do I have what it takes? Even if I do...With all these people here, there is no way in hell that I can get away with using my quirk. I'd get fined out of my ass for sure and undoubtedly get blacklisted by UA...Shit!_ '

The villain suddenly began flailing wildly, letting off several more explosions, before it separated a bit at the centre, revealing a distressed pair of eyes that Izuku immediately recognized.

"KACCHAN!"

Before he could even register what he was doing, Izuku had hurdled the police barricade and was running as hard as he could towards his best friend. He heard several calls for him to stop, but paid them no mind as he grabbed his backpack and flung it right at the sludge villain's face.

The sludge man yelled in pain as his many books and school supplies impacted with his eyeball, causing him to falter enough for Katsuki to free his face and mouth.

"Bleghhh! Deku, what the fuck are you doing?! Get the hell outta here!"

Despite the fear coursing throughout Izuku's body, he somehow managed to give Katsuki a shaky smile, "No can do, Kacchan! Even though I'll probably never live to hear you say it, we're partners and best friends. Be sure to make a name for yourself at UA, for the both of us, okay?"

Izuku's nervous grin may have fooled some people, but Katsuki was not just some people. He knew exactly what the nerd was going to do. He could see it in his eyes. "Deku!" His call was for naught, as Izuku had already jumped several feet back and shed his school uniform, leaving him in only a green and black bodysuit, the same suit that Bakugo and his parents had helped Inko pay for to keep Izuku from being naked when he used his quirk.

Izuku wasted no time in transforming into an elephant and kicking over a nearby fire hydrant, causing a pillar of water to shot out of the ground. Taking as much as he could into his trunk, Izuku turned towards the sludge villain holding Bakugo and sprayed it as hard as he could.

Tuning out the garbled yells of the villain, along with the shouts from both heroes and civilians behind him, Izuku focused on nothing but using all his strength to free Katsuki.

' _There is no way I'm not gonna catch a case for quirk use in public with all these people here. I guess this is it…'_ Just as he was about to run out of water in his trunk, he saw that Katsuki was mostly free from the sludge, ' _But if it means I can save someone...No regrets…_ ' Breaking into a run, Izuku quickly morphed to his gorilla form and grabbed Katsuki by the waist, yanking him completely free of the sludge villain and tossing him to safety. Izuku was about to make a break for it himself, but the sludge villain somehow managed to trap him by the leg with one of its slimy tendrils.

"URGGHHH! You are gonna die, you little brat!"

" **DETROIT—** "

Izuku's head shot up. "Damn you, All Mightttttttt!" The villain screeched

" **SMAAAAAAASH**!" The villain was once again obliterated by the sheer force of All Might's punch, completely freeing Izuku of entrapment.

The wind caused by All Might's attack soared upwards, separating the clouds above, and causing a dark overcast to quickly form above them.

"Holy shit, it's All Might!"

"Wait...It's raining. Look at the clouds, they're moving!"

"He changed the weather with a single punch! That's the number 1 hero for you!"

Izuku looked on in disbelief. All Might had saved him again. Even after what was said between them.

" **Rushing in to help, doing your best to help save the day no matter the cost...THAT'S THE TRUE TEST OF A HERO!** "

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

After getting thoroughly reprimanded for recklessly rushing in to save Katsuki while simultaneously being praised for his quirk, Izuku was making his way home, Katsuki by his side brooding the whole way.

After several minutes of silence, Katsuki was the first one to speak.

"I didn't need your help, you damn nerd. I don't owe you anything, you got that?"

Izuku chuckled wistfully at his friend, "I know, Kacchan. I was just doing what anyone else would do. What a hero would do, right?"

"Tch, none of those so called 'pros' had the balls to do anything, bunch of pussies."

Izuku said nothing, but smiled at Katsuki and kept walking.

"Izuku."

Said boy froze in place, turning around to face his best friend. Izuku hadn't heard Kacchan call him by his name in over 10 years, so he knew what he needed to say was serious.

Katsuki's face was unreadable for the most part, but Izuku could easily read the look in his eyes. "You better not try and throw your damn dream away again like you did today. If you think that I am gonna accept being the best hero in the world without kicking your ass on the way up, you got another thing coming." Izuku could have sworn he saw a genuine smile flash across Katsuki's face for a split-second, but it vanished as soon as it appeared." The boys said nothing else to each other as Katsuki turned down his street to head home, hands dug into his pockets.

Izuku stood there for a moment, staring at Katsuki's back. A small grin broke across his face as he shook his head and continued on towards his own house.

" **I AM HERE!** "

"AHH!" Izuku jolted backwards in shock as All Might suddenly appeared out of nowhere and skidded to a halt in front of him.

"All Might? Where did you come from? Weren't you getting hounded by like a million reporters?"

" **HA HA HA!** " All Might let out a booming laugh, " **I stand for justice, not sound bites!** **Because I...I AM ALL MI—Blergghhh!** " All Might puffed back into his skeleton form, wiping the blood dripping from his mouth.

"Young man, I came here to thank you...And also to discuss our conversation from earlier. If you hadn't told me what you had...If you hadn't run into that fight...I would've been a worthless bystander watching from the crowd. You showed no hesitation to rush in and save your friend from a villain even pro heroes on the scene were wary to deal with. Tell me something...What were you thinking when you ran in to save that blonde kid?"

Izuku rubbed his chin in ponderance, "Well...my legs kinda moved on their own. Before I knew it, I was there trying to save him. I even used my quirk knowing I would probably get in a lot of trouble for it, but Kacchan is safe, so that's really all that matters to me."

"An excellent answer. You know..,When recounting tales of heroics from the youths, all pros share a common element in their answer. They moved without thinking. Seeing someone in need and immediately going to their aid without any worries or fears to hold you back, that is the true essence of a hero. And to hear that you were willing to get into legal trouble just to save your friend, well that's something that simply can't be ignored either."

Izuku's insides were doing backflips and he stared his idol right in the sunken-in eyes. "W-W-what are you saying, All Might?"

All Might smirked, "I'm saying...I spoke too hastily earlier on the roof. From what I've seen from how you acted today...There is no doubt in my mind that you _can_ become a hero."

Those 5 words. Those 5 words from his idol, from _his_ hero, they meant more than anything Izuku could think of. He could not hold back the emotions welling up within him, and ended up hunched over on the ground, failing to hold back steady tears.

"I'm not done...Your heroic actions today, even with the doubts and worries I knew you had on yourself, it inspired me to act. To be the hero I'm supposed to be. I have been in town...Searching for the right person...For a protege to take under my wing and eventually be my successor as the Symbol of Peace."

He looked up at All Might with wide, glistening eyes, "Midoriya Izuku...I choose you. I deem you worthy of my power...My quirk is yours to inherit. "

"...Huh?"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hell everyone and welcome back to Beast Mode! Look, I know I said I would try to be better than once a week on chapter updates, and I'm sorry for slacking. I'm honestly doing my best and don't want to rush and write chapters that don't turn out the way I want them to. So please bear with me and my timing inconsistency. And make sure to check out the notes at the end of the chapter as well!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"So let me get this straight…Your quirk is something called One For All...And it was passed down for several generations, gaining more power each time it was handed down to a new successor...And you want to pass it down to me next?"

All Might hummed, "That about sums it up, yes. Though your explanation is a lot less awesome and climactic than mine. But anyway, I have been in town looking for a successor, so this works out well for both of us, wouldn't you say?"

Izuku gnawed on his lower lip, trying to take in the insane information that he was being given. He eventually opened his mouth to speak, but All Might beat him to it.

"Before you say what I think you are going to say, yes I am sure I want to choose you to inherit One For All. I can see the fire in your eyes, the burning desire to be a hero more than anything else. I saw a sliver of your untapped potential back there with the sludge villain. And I'll admit...You remind me a lot of myself when I was your age. While not entirely untrue, the things I said on that rooftop were products of my frustration at being found out so easily paired with the fact that I was chasing a disgusting slime man all day. So what do you say, Young Midoriya? Will you accept my power?"

Izuku's head drooped as he stared at his clenched fists. ' _Can I really do something like this? Inherit All Might's power...Have the strength and will of previous Symbols of Peace as a part of me...Oh, who am I kidding?!"_

"Yes! I accept!" Izuku was at least glad he didn't start crying again, as emotional as he was.

"An immediate answer. I like that! I'd expect nothing less."

Izuku looked up at All Might, the sunset framing his lanky body. He had an expectant smile on his face, just begging to know what would next.

"So, first things first, Young Midoriya...Do you have plans this Saturday?"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Izuku sighed as he finally reached home and plopped down in his entryway to take his shoes off. "Man, what a day…" Izuku massaged his sore feet. He had hardly a second to relax before he was glomped and found himself on his back with a very excited Rottweiler hovering over him and licking his face. "Hey Nozomi," He greeted, scratching her up and down the sides of her belly, "You would not believe the day that I had." Putting his things away, Izuku changed out of his uniform. "Ugh, gross!" His clothes reeked! Probably from almost being swallowed by that sludge monster.

Izuku looked up at the many pieces of All Might memorabilia on his wall and sighed wistfully. "I still can't believe I met All Might, disappointed him, and impressed him to the point of picking me to be his successor all in the same day." He suddenly heard his phone buzz from his nightstand. Leaning over his bed, he grabbed it and slid it open.

[Mom] Hey honey, I'll be home in 5. Meeting got cancelled. You started dinner already?

Izuku's stomach dropped. He held a hand over his mouth, staring wide-eyed at his phone. "Shit shit shit shit shit SHIT!" Izuku scrambled to his feet, barely managing to keep himself from slipping on the hardwood floor and made a mad dash for the kitchen.

"Woof Woof!" Nozomi barked, running back and forth between the hallway leading to the door and the kitchen where Izuku was standing.

"Eh?! Mom's on her way upstairs?!" Izuku frantically looked around the room for the groceries he bought for dinner. Trying to retrace his steps, Izuku thought hard about where he had last placed his grocery bags.

"Okay, so I bought them and had them on the way to the arcade. And in the tunnel…" Izuku held his head in his hands. "IN THE TUNNEL!"

Just then, he heard the front door open and the shuffling of feet to signal his mom coming home. "Izuku, Nozomi! I'm home! How's dinner coming?"

Izuku fell to his knees with a rain cloud over his head as he heard his mom's slippered feet pattering on the floor getting louder. Nozomi walked over him and peered at him curiously. "I wonder if All Might will still be able to train me after I'm dead…"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Izuku rubbed his eyes as he slowly trudged down the sidewalk towards to beach he was supposed to meet All Might.

He yawned into his hand, "Jeez, it's way too early…" Izuku woke up early almost every morning to train, but waking up at dawn was a little bit too much, even for him.

Going down the steps and onto the sand, he saw All Might sitting on top of a steel barrel, gazing at the sun beginning to rise over the horizon.

"Ah, Young Midoriya. Good morning." All Might said, turning around to face the drowsy teen.

"Mornin' All Might. Don't get me wrong, I understand the idea behind training so early in the morning, but why are we here?" Izuku looked around Dagobah Beach, barely able to see anything outside of directly in front of him past the massive heaps of trash and waste piled up along the shore.

All Might hopped off of his seat and gazed around the beach as well. "A good question my boy. You see, I read online recently that this beach was once a beautiful place that many people used to come and enjoy on a regular basis. But then trash and junk began to wash up on the shore and it eventually got out of hand to what it is today."

"Yeah once trash started showing up, people started dumping their trash along with it. But I still don't really see where you're going with this, All Might." Izuku scratched his cheek in confusion.

"Right to the point, my boy!" All Might replied with a pointed finger at his young protege. "You see...Many people, heroes included, tend to forget that the original role of heroes in society is community service! So, in order to help instill a foundational value of heroics _and_ to help train your body better to inherit my quirk...Not to mention the fact that I have property near here and you cleaning up the entire beach will help the value skyrocket...Ahem, You are going to clean this entire area and restore the gorgeous view for the whole beach!"

Izuku looked around at the massive piles of junk surrounding the two of them and encompassing about 99% of the beach once more. "This is the first real step, huh…"

He was interrupted by a tin can hitting him square in the back of his head.

"Hey hey hey! What's with all this standing around? We're burning daylight out here! You wanna get strong enough to handle my quirk, don't you?"

"How much stronger do I have to get? I thought I was in pretty good condition, I work out all the damn time…" He trailed off with a small pout on his face.

"Well, yes I agree that you are in good shape for your age, but we are talking about you inheriting the quirk to make you the next Symbol of Peace!" All Might buffed himself up and flexed his biceps, "If I gave you my quirk right at this moment, there is a very good chance that if you activated it, your limbs would blow off of your body! Don't want that, do we?"

Izuku paled at the idea of his arms and legs bursting off of his torso, "Why didn't you tell me that before?!"

All Might chucked another tin can at Izuku, eliciting a cry of annoyance, "Doesn't matter! With my 'Super Duper Make My Successor Into A Suitable Vessel' workout plan, you will be ready in no time! Now get to work! I have a lot more things heavier than cans that I can hit you with, you know."

"H-Hai!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Days, weeks, and eventually months passed as Izuku continued his training with All Might in cleaning up the beach.

At first, the meticulously scheduled routine was absolutely brutal for the young man, making him feel like what was essentially a walking corpse for most of the day. He did his best to deflect any questions or concerns from his classmates, but he was sure that if it kept up the way it was, everyone would become way too suspicious for him to handle properly. But as time went on, he got more and more used to the gruelling work and eventually began to seem at least slightly alive when he was at school.

No one, not even his mother, who while worried, was placated by the excuse that he was just training extra hard for the UA entrance exam coming up, was more suspicious than Katsuki. A brilliant mind in his own right, and very adept at reading Izuku, it was expected that the ash-blonde would not be so easy to fool, and even harder to keep entirely in the dark.

However, with All Might's consultation, Izuku managed to solidify the story that he was just training on his own, so that when UA came around, he could surprise Katsuki with his growth. If it was anyone else, there might have been more questions asked, but knowing Katsuki's competitive nature and love of a good challenge, it was relatively easy to keep him from prying _too_ much.

Izuku wiped the beads of sweat dripping from his forehead as he lugged an old refrigeration unit across the beach to the dump truck that All Might had parked nearby. Grunting in effort as he lifted the hunk of metal up and into the back of the truck, he stood for a moment, taking a breather.

It had been 5 months since his extreme training had started, and Izuku couldn't help but smile when he thought about the progress he had been making. He had already been decently muscular thank to his years of training, but with All Might's help, he had gone from lean and fit to much more filled out and muscular. He _definitely_ noticed the looks he was getting from girls in his class, and it made him almost equally as proud as he was embarrassed. He had also grown a bit, now just a hair taller than Kacchan, something that the latter was _not_ happy to find out and griped about on a semi regular basis.

Getting back to work, Izuku began pulling an old set of lockers across the sand, straining and sputtering as he did his best to bring the large object towards the truck. "C'mon, c'mon!" Pulling with all his energy, Izuku felt a sudden sharp pain shooting up his arms. Yelling out and dropping to his knees holding his triceps, he sucked air in sharply to try and somehow ease the pain coursing through his body.

"Hey, what's with all this sitting around, huh? You're gonna fall behind schedule if you keep wasting time, Young Midoriya!" All Might scolded, coming up to the kneeling boy on his Segway, doing circles around him and shaking his fist. Peering a bit closer, All Might noticed the throbbing and twitching coming from his ward's arms and skidded to a halt. He crouched down to examine them and began shaking his head. "What did I tell you about overworking yourself? I made the training schedule with your exact body type and muscle growth in mind! Any more than that and you won't be able to recover enough to get any stronger!"

Breathing heavily through the pain, Izuku gritted his teeth, "I have to get stronger as fast as possible so that I can handle your quirk. I have no time to sit around, I need to be ready! You said it yourself, you only have so much time left, I have to be ready to be there when you can't anymore!" He was stopped by All Might chopping down on the top of his head.

"My boy, I appreciate and understand the method behind this madness. But you must understand that you are still young, and there is plenty of time to improve _without_ destroying your muscles beyond repair. I said I was going to make you a suitable vessel and help you hone in One For All, didn't I? So trust me when I say you are doing just fine, incredible in fact." Izuku blushed at the praise, but said nothing to interrupt, "But...I like the fire you're showing, as hard headed as it is. Tell you what, maybe I can take another look at that workout plan and see some places where extra time can be allocated to training, huh?"

Izuku, despite not being able to lift his arms just yet, nodded vigorously and rose to his feet. "Thank you All Might! Okay, back to it!"

All Might chuckled at Izuku's relentless behaviour, "About what I'd expect from you my boy. Although...I don't see why you don't want to use your quirk to help you clean up faster...I would think using it would still help you train in whatever animal you use to carry the trash, though I am not entirely sure if that is how it works…"

Izuku stopped dead in his tracks at All Might's words, "Wait a minute...I could have used my quirk to help with my training...This _entire_ time?"

All Might let out a hearty laugh, "Well, I never said you couldn't use it! And you also never asked, Young Midoriya!" His laughter died down, however, when Izuku turned back to him with a disturbing look on his face before All Might found himself face to face with a ravenous lion snarling at him, "Y-Y-Y-Young Midoriya...Let's calm down for a moment…" The skeleton man pleaded, waving his hands frantically in front of him. "You know I've already used up my time for today, so would you really want to harm a defenseless injured old man like myself over something so trivial?" All Might could have sworn he saw what looked to be a sadistic smile on the animal-Izuku's face but started running away too hastily to verify it.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Hahhhhh" The chilly December air nipped at All Might as he breathed into his hands in attempts to keep them warm. Adjusting the scarf tied snugly around his neck, he made his way down the steps towards the beach. He stopped dead in his tracks as he looked around and saw a completely clean beach.

"Oh...My... **GOODNESS!** " All Might excitedly yelled, buffing up for a moment. He walked further down the shore to look for his wonderful protege, only to find the boy passed out in the sand, a tired yet satisfied smile on his face. All Might shook his head with a chuckle and decided to let him enjoy his well-deserved rest. He sat down in the sand and pulled his cellphone out of his trench coat.

*Ring Ring* *Ring Ring* "Hello. Yes sir, it's All Might...Yes he has done well in such a short amount of time, it's quite impressive...The same time we agreed on? Okay...Thank you sir. Goodbye."

He turned at the sound of Izuku beginning to stir, smiling at the boy as he rose to a sitting position.

"Oh, hey All Might. I finished cleaning up the beach."

"That you did, my boy. I'm surprised you aren't more excited about it."

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Ehehe, well...I kinda burned myself out at the end when I cleaned the last of the junk. Believe me I feel great about finishing what was set out for me." Izuku was definitely not going to mention the 5 minutes Izuku spent screaming in victory at the top of a giant heap of junk into the sky, which was what caused him to pass out in the sand on the first place. No, that was just for him.

"Young Midoriya, you've exceeded my expectations! You finished cleaning the beach, a feat that I estimated would take at least 9 months to complete, in just over 7 and a half!" Seeing Izuku's face light up with pride brought a warmth to All Might's heart, "You've done extremely well, and have earned your place as a suitable vessel to inherit my quirk!" Pulling his phone out, All Might showed a picture he took of Izuku when the training first began.

"Whoa...I looked like that only 7 and a half months ago?!" Izuku couldn't believe his eyes. He was not scrawny before by any means...But he was almost twice as built as he was in the photo!

"Tell me something, how much could you bench before training started?"

Izuku took a second to think, "Maybe like...150 pounds?"

All Might grabbed a bench press station from the junk pile and dragged it in front of Izuku. The boy laid down and All Might spotted him with the barbell. "Go ahead, my boy." Seeing Izuku bench the bar with relative ease brought a smirk to All Might's face. "Hahaha! That was 350 pounds, Young Midoriya!"

Izuku almost lost his grip on the bar, but managed to safely secure it on the rack and shot up from his lying position. "S-S-Seriously?!" He looked at his own body in amazement, "Wow...I knew I was getting stronger...But I didn't think I would see this much progress this quickly…"

All Might patted him firmly on his shoulders, "My boy, you worked very hard to get the results you see before you. Now that your body is finally ready, it is time for me to pass One For All down to you."

Izuku's eyes lit up and he nodded so hard, All Might thought his head would snap off of his body. Izuku's mind was going waywire with his excitement. How was One For All passed down? Would he go through some amazing and epic ritual where the essence of All Might's power is extracted and transferred into him like in one of those cool movies he's seen? Would he have to consume a special heart-shaped herb and buried alive in some kind of mystical dirt? Would he have to find a bunch of orange orbs, gather them in a circle and summon a giant magical dragon in the sky? He just had to know!

"Now," All Might began, plucking a long blonde strand of hair from the top of his own head, holding it out to his successor, "Eat this!"

"...Ehh?"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

After a few moments of confusion, and a few more moments of disgusted acceptance, Izuku finally managed to swallow the hair that All Might offered to him.

All Might had decided that Izuku earned a day off after all of his hard work, so he was to go home and relax, to both recover his worn muscles and let One For All fully integrate with his DNA.

Walking down the street with his arms crossed behind his head, Izuku's thoughts wandered all over the place. ' _All Might said that the hair would have to digest before I would be able to use One For All, and he won't let me workout anymore today...So what the hell am I supposed to do until tomorrow?'_ For most teenagers, a free Saturday would be a blessing of a gift. But for Izuku, who spent the last 7 and a half months training nonstop, he found himself starting to get antsy with nothing to do to keep himself occupied.

"I can't even ask Kacchan if he wants to hang out, his parents took him on that cruise to South Korea for that 'Super Spicy Tteokbokki Festival'. Man~~~" Izuku said with a pout. "Guess I'll just go home or something and —Oof!" Not watching where he was going, Izuku bumped into someone, causing them to fall and drop their bag onto the ground. Immediately, he got on the ground and collected the things that fell out of the dropped bag. "I'm so sorry, are you okay?" Izuku said, handing the bag back to the girl he knocked over.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I wasn't looking where I was going either, so it's all good!" The girl said, giving Izuku a friendly smile, showing an interesting set of sharp teeth. Taking a good look at the girl, Izuku blushed a bit at how cute she was. Her hair, a pale blonde similar to Kacchan's, was pulled back into two spiky clumps on either side of her head, and a long bang framing the right side of her face. She was wearing an aquamarine turtleneck sweater, paired with a pair of dark blue jeans, not hiding much of her curvacious figure, much to Izuku's embarrassment. "Uhh...Hello?" The girl waved a hand in front of Izuku's face, causing him to flinch backwards in surprise.

"AHH! Oh sorry, hehe...I kinda spaced out there for a second, huh?" Izuku inwardly cringed at himself for being such a socially awkward goof. The girl was eyeing him curiously, yet he could see a small hint of playfulness in her eyes that somehow put Izuku slightly at ease. "I-I'm Midoriya Izuku, it's nice to meet you. Sorry again for knocking you over, hehe." Izuku finished, rubbing his neck awkwardly.

The girl giggled at him, causing a blush to reappear on his face, ' _Damn it she has such a cute laugh!'_. She fixed her bag strap around her shoulder and put her hand out. "Nakagame Tatami." Izuku took the handshake and the two shared a friendly grin. "It's nice to meet you too, Midoriya-kun. And don't worry about bumping into me, I was kinda not paying all that much attention either. I am in town on vacation and I can't make heads or tails of these streets. I tried looking at a map but it only made me more confused," She said with a slight chuckle.

"O-Oh, well...I know this area pretty well...Would you like some help?"

Tatami giggled into her hand at Izuku's nervousness, "Look at you swooping in to save a damsel in distress. Is this some sort of pick-up strategy?" She lost her composure and fell into full-blown laughter at seeing Izuku's burning blush at her words. She punched him playfully in the arm. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Gosh, lighten up a little, Midoriya-kun! I would love your help if your offering."

Izuku, while still blushing, managed a genuine smile. "I'll do my best! So where to, Nakagame-san?"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Izuku really did not expect for his day to end up spent with Tatami going all over the city sightseeing. He _definitely_ didn't expect to have the time of his life either. Tatami was incredibly easy to talk to, and the two quickly learned quite a bit about each other. It was interesting for Izuku to learn that Tatami was already in her first year at Ketsubutsu Academy.

Hanging out with Tatami really reminded Izuku what it was like to have genuine interactions with someone that just liked him for the kind of person he was, and not just because he was strong or bound to be successful. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he laughed so hard and smiled to the point of his face aching. After months and months of harsh training, he really needed to just kick back and have some well-deserved fun.

Food stalls, parks, monuments, you name it. The pair went all over the city, enjoying the sights and each other's company more and more as the day went on. At one point, Tatami somehow convinced Izuku to go to a maid cafe with her, where she spent the entire time laughing at his flusteredness around all of the cute waitresses calling him master and waiting on him hand and foot.

After a long day of walking around, the two found an empty park bench to rest their weary feet. The pair sat in comfortable silence, happy smiles on their faces as the wonderful day they shared replayed in their minds. Izuku absently let his hand hang off the bench, where a small bird hopped towards him curiously. The creature pecked lightly at his fingers before Izuku extended his index and gave the bird a perch to stand on. "Hey there little one." He cooed, getting a delighted chirp from the bird and a surprised stare from Tatami.

"Whoa, that's like nature, dude...How are you doing that, Midoriya-kun?" Tatami said, still staring wide-eyed at Izuku playing with the little chick.

Not looking away from the bird, Izuku smiled wistfully at the little creature, petting its head softly with his free hand, "It's probably because of my quirk. I can transform into different animals, and since i was little, I've had this unspoken connection with animals and I get along with pretty much every one that I meet." He gently thrusted his hand upward, letting the bird fly off towards whatever it needed to be doing, and turned to meet Tatami's amazed expression.

"That's so cool! Your quirk sounds awesome, Midoriya-kun! Way cooler than mine…" She admitted sheepishly. "Mine is called Telescopic. I can instantly retract my limbs and head into my body, kind of like a turtle does." She demonstrated by holding out her arm and sucking it into her torso. She looked up at Izuku and was taken aback with just how genuinely impressed he looked. "M-M-Midoriya?"

As if she had opened up the dam holding back a great lake, Izuku's quirky quirk loving flooded out faster than she could even keep up with. "That's an incredibly cool quirk, Nakagame-san! Just think of how useful that would be in combat scenarios. A villain could think they have you on the ropes throwing a right hook at your head, and POOF. Retract your head and dodge like a champ! Or or or or even, imagine someone tries and restrain you with rope or something, they turn around for one second and POOF. You're like a magician you can escape from anything! You can even use it to hide! You could retract your limbs and hide in crates or barrels or anything else that other people wouldn't be able to—"

As Izuku carried on in his intense rambling, Tatami went wide-eyed at how much he was praising her quirk and all the things he thought she could do. She was always a bit self-conscious of how her quirk wasn't all that flashy or strong, like her classmate Shindo's was, for instance. Hearing Izuku say all those things brought butterflies to Tatami's stomach, and she couldn't help but blush at his words.

"—I just know you're gonna be an awesome hero someday!" That was the last straw on the camel's back for Tatami. Turning to the freckled teen with a warm grin, she gently turned him by his shoulders so that they were facing each other, somehow not even breaking him out of his rambling trance.

"Midoriya-kun!"

Nothing.

"Midoriya!"

He didn't even pause to breathe.

"Izuku!"

"Eh?" Izuku finally was broken out of his spell, Tatami guessed the shock of her calling him by his first name was enough to do it. Once he actually registered that she had done that, he immediately went red as a tomato and began sputtering uncontrollably.

Once again amused by his reactions, Tatami couldn't help but giggle. He really was too cute for his own good. Growing uncharacteristically shy, Tatami couldn't look up from her fidgeting hands, "You don't mind if I call you Izuku, do you?" Getting what somewhat resembled a "No, I don't" mixed in with flustered gibberish, she carried on, "I...I just want to tell you how much what you said means to me. I've always been kinda...self-conscious about my quirk and how it isn't all that good for hero work and all that stuff, and to hear all those things you said...It really makes me happy, ya know? So thank you, Izuku. For putting up with me today, for letting me drag you all over the city, and most of all...for this." She gave Izuku a smile that knocked the breath out of his lungs and made his heart clench like he had never felt in his life.

Gulping out of nervousness, Izuku twiddled his thumbs, unable to meet Tatami's gaze after the look she gave him. "Y-Y-Y-You're welcome, Nakagame-san."

Tatami pouted at him and lightly shoved him in his shoulder, "Hey if I get to call you by your first name then you gotta call me by my first name too!"

"Okay…" Izuku let out a deep breath, trying his best to calm his nerves. ' _C'mon Izuku get a hold of yourself! You are better than this! Sure, she is cute, beautiful, charming, funny, sweet, fun, cool and a million gazillion other good adjectives but that does NOT mean you have to sit here and act like you've never talked to a girl in your life! You can do this! Oh god, she's probably sitting there thinking I'm a weirdo cause I just stopped talking! Say something! ANYTHING'_

"I think you're gorgeous!"

' _NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!'_

"W-What?" Tatami said, a blush quickly creeping up on her pale skin. "R-Really?

"Y-Y-Yeah, I really do." Izuku was screaming to high heaven internally, but he supposed there was no backing out now.

Tatami let out what sounded almost like a faint squeal as she held her burning cheeks. "T-Thank you, Izuku." The two fell into a terribly awkward silence, with neither teen knowing what to say next. Before they knew it, it was late in the evening, and the sun was setting as most people were on their way home for the night.

"Umm...Izuku. I kinda...have to go soon. My train back home leaves first thing tomorrow."

"O-Oh, okay…" ' _THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY TO HER?! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU MAN?!'_

"Ne, Izuku...You're applying to UA next year right?" Tatami said, staring off at the sunset, the orange hue shining on her face in a way that made Izuku's insides do somersaults.

"Yeah, I am."

"Well, promise me that you'll make it, and the next time we see each other, we'll talk about all the cool stuff we've done."

"Next time?"

"Of course! You think you aren't gonna get drug around all day for adventures by me at least a dozen more times? Well think again, buddy! You're stuck with me, got it?"

Izuku turned to meet Tatami's gaze and they both smiled widely at each other.

"Got it!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"So...Where are we going again?"

Izuku curiously gazed out the window of All Might's sedan as the cityscape passed by, beginning to enter an area that Izuku had little to no familiarity with.

"A special spot for training, my boy. I pulled a few strings and got us time at a private training facility where you can let loose and really see how you deal with One For All without worrying about anyone asking too many questions. Hehe, being the number 1 hero has its perks after all." All Might said, rubbing his nose smugly.

Izuku nodded, "I guess that does make sense. Wouldn't want random people to walk in on me using a quirk as powerful as yours."

"Correct!" All Might exclaimed, "Now I need you to reach in the glove box and put on the hat that's inside."

Raising an eyebrow, Izuku slowly reached to open the glove box and pulled out what looked to be a...burlap sack? "Uhhh, All Might?"

"Put on the bag, my boy! We are about to entire a super secret location that no one but myself and a few others know the details of. So please, the bag!"

Sighing to himself, Izuku complied and pulled the sack over his head. "I hope someone sees us and thinks you're kidnapping me."

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Alright, here we are my boy...Behold!"

"All Might, I still have the bag on." Izuku said with a deadpan tone.

"Oh, right sorry." All Might pulled the burlap sack off of Izuku's head. "Behold!"

Izuku looked around the large room All Might had brought him into, the younger of the two staring starry-eyed at the countless concrete pillars of various size littering the floor.

"WHOA!" Izuku yelled with joy, "You brought me to UA's Gym Gamma?!"

"Blrghh!" Blood shot out of All Might's mouth in shock, "How did you know that?!"

Izuku turned with a dead stare, "C'mon. It's me. You really think I wouldn't try and learn every possible thing that I could about the school I'd be training to be the greatest hero ever? Also, you lied when you said only a select few others knew about this so-called 'super secret' location. Every student at UA has access to this place!"

All Might grinned sheepishly, "Uhh...Yeah about that…"

"My, my, you were not joking around when you told me that you found yourself quite the impressive young man under your wing, All Might!" The two turned towards the source of the voice to see some white...mouse thing? It was wearing a suit and had a scar running over its right eye. The creature walked up to Izuku and smiled up at him. "Hello, young man! I am Principal Nezu! Am I a dog, a mouse, a bear? Who knows?"

Overcoming his initial shock, Izuku bowed in respect to the principal of UA. "It's very nice to meet you, sir!" After exchanging pleasantries, All Might led Izuku to the middle of the training grounds, before buffing up to his muscle form.

" **Okay, Young Midoriya! Now that OFA has had the time to fester within you, we can finally begin your training! So, the basic premise of OFA is to act as a physical enhancer to your strength and speed. Let's just try it out and see how you feel, yes? Now, I want you to throw a punch at that pillar in front of you, and when you do, clench your buttcheeks and yell 'SMASH' deep in your heart!"**

Nodding in understanding, Izuku turned to the pillar and crouched slightly, pulling his arm back. ' _Okay...Clench buttcheeks...And SMASH'_ Izuku focused as hard as he could in drawing the energy of OFA into his arm and felt an overwhelming warmth flooding his system as his arm began glowing bright orange with several red marks appearing up his forearm and bicep. Throwing his fist forward, Izuku put all he could into the swing, completely shattering the base of the pillar and causing the rest of it to tumble to the ground. Coming down from the adrenaline of his success, Izuku suddenly felt searing pain in his arm and looked down to see it hanging lifelessly by his side, completely red and mangled. Struggling to fight back tears, Izuku fell to his knees holding his floppy appendage as All Might, Principal Nezu, and a short elderly woman in a nurse's outfit came to his side.

" **Young Midoriya, are you alright?!** " All Might helped Izuku to a sitting position, eyeing him worriedly.

"What the hell happened?" Izuku said through laboured breaths, still clutching his broken arm.

"My, my, what a mess you've gotten yourself into, young man. Let me fix that right up for you." The old lady kissed Izuku on the forehead, and before his very eyes, he saw his arm glowing bright green and felt it healing to be as good as new.

He curled and uncurled his fist several times before looking up to his saviour and gasping. "Recovery Girl! I'm such a big fan! Thank you for healing me!"

The old lady patted his head, "No worries sonny. Now please don't do that again, my quirk heals from your stamina so I can only do that so much before you keel over like a sack of potatoes. And I know Toshi's secret, so don't worry about that."

' _Toshi? Oh she must mean All Might._ ' Izuku nodded and turned to his teacher, "What happened All Might? I thought you said I was ready to handle OFA?"

All Might looked thoughtful for a few seconds, " **Well, my boy, you must remember that One For All is a stockpiling quirk that gains power each time it is passed down. You are the ninth carrier, so it stands to reason that the essence of One For All that you possess within you is much stronger than when I first inherited it. Add that to the fact that I was older and more physically gifted than you when I received it from my master, and I guess you could say it was just too much for you to handle.** " Seeing Izuku deflate and frown at the ground, All Might put a comforting hand on his shoulder. " **Don't get too down on yourself my boy. It is clear that you can harness the oomph behind One For All, all we need to learn now is to control it!** " To demonstrate, All Might pulled a pair of tin cans out of...somewhere...and crushed them carefully in his hand, showing his finesse and fine-tuned control. " **Let me ask, what did it feel like when you were gathering OFA?** "

"Hmm...Oh! You know how like when you have a really tasty burrito, and I'm not talking about lame ass Taco Gong burritos. I'm talking like, high quality, warm tortilla, real meat, fresh veggies, the whole shebang. It felt like when you are too excited and take a really strong bite out of it and everything just explodes out the other end and gets all over your new pants."

All Might and Recovery Girl both facefaulted, while Nezu nodded his head in agreeance, "I hate when that happens."

All Might stood back up and shrugged with a smile, " **Not the analogy I would immediately think of, but sure kid. Whatever works for you.** **Anyways, over the next 2 and a half months, we are going to get you to take the tastiest first bite out of that burrito and none of that delicious filling is gonna fall out!** **And we are gonna integrate your other quirk and have a fabulous fiesta of heroic proportions! Now let's spar, Young Midoriya!** "

As mentor and student yelled in excitement and dove right into their training, Recovery Girl leaned over and whispered to Nezu, "Is it just me, or are you also craving mexican food now?"

"Way ahead of you." Nezu said, phone already on his ear. "Yes, hello Lunch Rush...

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Try it once more, my boy."

Skinny All Might watched as Izuku got into the horse stance for about the 100th time that day and closed his eyes in concentration. A faint orange glow covered Izuku's right fist as he opened his eyes. "Hah!" Izuku thrusted a right jab, sending a small gust of wind forward and knocking over the cardboard villain cutout that was placed a few metres away as a target.

Izuku pulled his fist back and stood straight up, panting. "I did it!"

"That you did. Your control is already jumping leaps and bounds! How much of OFA would you say you used just now?"

Izuku scrunched his lips in thought, "Hmmm...Maybe like 2 or 3 percent?"

"Not bad for a full day's work, I'd say. I figured you would be moving relatively quickly, what with your years learning to control your animal quirk. Good work." All Might seemed to read Izuku's thoughts and put a hand up to stop him from talking, "Don't worry, getting a good level of control is the most important point right now. We can worry about incorporating more and more power as your control increases. Now, back to training while I enjoy some delicious burritos!" Ignoring Izuku's grumbling, All Might picked up one of Lunch Rush's famous bean burritos and chomped down. The other end burst open and a generous blob of beans and cheese splattered all over All Might's lap. "NOOOO! My control! Damn you and your analogy, Young Midoriyaaaaaa!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

 **A/N: Hey guys, so next chapter will be neck deep in Izuku's training and the entrance exam, so SEE YOU THERE!**

 **Also, I made a few different references in this chapter, but there is one very specific/sorta obscure reference that I made and am really happy about. If you can point it out and say where it's from and who said it, I'll give you a shoutout in the beginning of next chapter.**

 **Also also, I slipped on ice and ate all the shit in the world and my back hurts like all hell. So fuck winter.**

 **Later!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hi hello yes we are back! I actually managed to finish a day early with this chapter, which is kind of ironic because it is the longest chapter I've ever written.**

 **Enjoy and check out the end notes for more fun stuff!**

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

" **You're gonna have to do better than that, my boy!** " All Might taunted as Izuku barely ducked under a strike aimed for his head. He lunged back to a safe distance and held up his left hand.

"Delaware Smash!" Sending a shockwave with the flick of his finger, Izuku landed a hit directly at All Might, forcing the hulking man to shield his body with his forearms. Not missing a beat, Izuku surged One For All through his legs and closed the distance between them in a fraction of a second, stopping in front of All Might and charging up his fist, "Detroit—"

" **Smash!** " All Might countered out of nowhere, catching Izuku squarely in the chest with a strong right and sending him careening backwards. The young man hit the ground with a loud thud, groaning in pain.

All Might dusted himself off and reverted back to his skeleton form, "Too slow, my boy. You are wasting precious time transitioning One For All from your legs to your arms. It might work most of the time against small time criminals, but any experienced fighter will telegraph that in an instant and strike back before you even have the chance to react."

Izuku slowly got up, clutching his chest. "Damn it!" He had been training with One For All for about 3 weeks, and while he had gotten his control up a considerable amount, he was not as adept at a complete fight with it as he wanted to be. "There has got to be something I'm missing!" Scratching his chin in deep thought, Izuku dug through every corner of his mind in order to find an answer to his problem. "Activating One For All in one part of my body and then switching to another takes way too long because I have to focus on the transition. And even if I only kept it in one part, I have to focus on limiting the power or else I lose control and my limb breaks. Pinpointing on one specific part of my body takes way too much brain processing that I can't afford to waste in a fight with a capable opponent…" Izuku's eyes widened in realization. "That's it!"

Slightly bending his knees, Izuku clenched his fists and began flooding One For All throughout his body, causing green sparks to emanate from his person. The tell-tale red veins ran up and down him from head to toe, and he took on the orange glow that he had come to know whenever he activated his gifted quirk.

"Instead of putting One For All into one part of my body and having to focus on cutting it off there...I just let some of it flow throughout my entire body!" Izuku whipped his arms back, letting green sparks shoot off of his body in the most epic of manners. "One For All: Full Cowl!"

Off to the side, All Might smirked, "Heh, didn't take him long to figure it out. I guess I shouldn't be surprised," He mumbled to himself, absolutely brimming with pride. He walked up to his orange glowstick of a student and gave him a wry grin, "Nice look, kid, but can you move in that state?"

Through gritted teeth, Izuku nodded, "I-I t-t-t-hink s-so…" Izuku took a few test trudges back and forth, trying to get the hang of feeling One For All coursing throughout his entire body. After a few minutes of testing out different movements, Izuku began limbering up and turned to All Might, "I think I'm ready to go again. You up for it, old man?" He gave his mentor a challenging grin.

"Ohoho, well aren't we getting a big head! Don't think just because you have, what, maybe 20% of One For All running through your body, you can handle me!"

Izuku responded with almost maniacal laughter, "Ha! Jokes on you, All Might! You wish it was only 20%, I am running on 28%! That's 7% per limb!"

Buffing up and getting into a combat stance, All Might gestured for Izuku to come at him, " **Okay then, Mr. 28%,** **let's go!** "

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Make sure to study hard for final exams everyone, class dismissed!"

As the class began packing their things and chattering excitedly, Izuku remained seated in his desk, writing away furiously in his notebook.

"So there's 2 weeks left until the entrance exam, Full Cowl is going well, we are supposed to start trying to integrate animorph this week, so there's that to look forward to. I already finished studying for finals, and UA entrance exam material I need to go over a few more times just to make sure I have everything down…" He was stopped from his rambling by Katsuki who had slammed a hand onto Izuku's desk.

"Deku! For God's sake, shut the hell up! Anyway, get your shit together, we're going to the mall."

Izuku narrowed his eyes at his best friend."...Why?"

"What the hell do you mean 'Why?', you fuck?! Cause I gotta buy shit!"

Still not convinced, Izuku stared at Katsuki with his eyebrows raised, "So you're telling me, that it has absolutely nothing to do with the girls you saved a while back who have not left you alone since, and your mom found out and gets mad at you any time you try and tell them off? And you aren't telling me to come because they are taking you to the mall and you don't want to be there with them by yourself?"

Katsuki and Izuku stared at each other for a few seconds, "...Fuck you." Cringing at the trio female voices calling "Katsuki-kun~!", Bakugo picked up his bag, "You comin' or what?"

Chuckling to himself, Izuku quickly packed his things, "Yeah, yeah I'm coming. I would really hate to take another precious second away from you to spend time with your girlfriends." Izuku immediately ducked under an angry swing and made a mad dash for the door, "Kacchan! Mercy!"

"Get back here, nerd!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Walking home from the mall after dropping the girls off like the gentlemen they were (Bakugo's mom made them do it), the two boys decided to stop by a ramen bar they frequented many times growing up.

"So, Deku…" Katsuki said in between bites, "You gonna tell me about that special training you been doing or what?"

Izuku froze, ramen hanging from his chopsticks a few inches from his mouth. He calmly lowered his chopsticks back into his bowl and looked towards his best friend out of the corner of his eye. "I thought I said I wanted it to be a surprise."

"What's the big deal, you shitbag?! Just tell me, not like whatever you're doing is gonna make you stronger than me, anyway."

Izuku sighed, "Kacchan...You know I've been relying on you since we were kids. I wanna do this and prove that I can get stronger without you. We always get lumped together, and you'll always be my best friend...But I need to show that I'm strong too. That we're equals." Izuku frowned at his now lukewarm bowl of noodles, ' _I'm sorry, Kacchan. I want to tell you, but I promised All Might. What I said isn't untrue...So I guess I'm not technically lying?'_

Katsuki stared at Izuku for a few seconds, in an almost scrutinizing manner, before abruptly turning back to his own meal. "Tch, whatever. Keep your shitty secrets. But you better get second in the entrance exams then, you fucking nerd!" He exclaimed before slurping up the rest of his food.

Izuku amusedly shook his head at Kacchan's 'unique' way of showing that he cared. "You want anything else before we go?"

Katsuki slammed his fist down on the table, "Don't rush me, dickface! Oi, old man! Gimme another plate of takoyaki! Extra spicy!" He yelled to the chef behind the counter. Katsuki turned back to Izuku and slapped his wallet out of his hand. "Fuck you! You're not paying for shit! Don't look down on me, nerd!"

Yup. Real 'unique'.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Izuku took a deep breath, letting the long intake of oxygen calm his system as he tried to focus as best he could. He could do this. He had made so much progress in learning to properly use One For All, this was just another step along the way. He could do this.

All Might Recovery Girl stood by in wait, interested to see whether or not the green-haired teen could really pull it off.

"Remember Young Midoriya, the best place to start is with what you're most comfortable and familiar with. We can start there and see where to go after that."

Nodding in response, Izuku shed his workout clothes, leaving only his special morph-suit (patent pending) on, rolled down to his waist, exposing his chiseled frame to the cool air in the gymnasium.

"Okay, here we go. One For All: Full Cowl!" The orange glow of the legendary quirk overtook his body, and Izuku took another deep breath, ready to take his skillset to the next level.

Izuku then tried to incorporate his own quirk into the equation, going with the transformation that he was most accustomed to, the gorilla. "What the—" The boy felt something off, however, and before he knew it, he was transforming wildly and out of control. "All…" Panda. "...M-Might…" Eagle. "H-H-Help…" Rabbit. "...M-Me…" Iguana.

The two adults watched in confusion/concern as Izuku writhed on the ground, rapidly transforming back and forth between his base human form and various animals.

"Young Midoriya!" All Might rushed to Izuku's side, "Take it easy, my boy!" Not knowing what else to do, All Might buffed up and trained to restrain the out of control teen, finding it increasingly difficult as his size/shape kept changing. After a few minutes, Izuku finally ran out of stamina and went limp in All Might's arms. Recovery girl came to check on him, as both she and All Might had worried expressions on their faces.

"My goodness. What happened to the poor boy, All Might?" Recovery Girl said as she checked Izuku over for any injuries.

"I-I'm not sure." All Might replied, still recovering from what he had just witnessed, "I suppose One For All and Young Midoriya's Animorph are combatting within him, and he has yet learned to let them function simultaneously. "I never had this problem, because well, you know...But I maybe remember master talking about her initial struggles with One For All and its synergy with her original quirk."

"And how did she get over said struggles?"

All Might frowned as he peered down at Izuku's sleeping face, "A lot of trial and error."

The Youthful Heroine pinched the bridge of her nose, "That's not entirely reassuring, you know. And I'm not even the one that is going to have to go through it." She sighed tiredly, "Just bring him to the infirmary and we will deal it once he wakes up." Nodding, All Might hoisted the unconscious boy over his shoulders and they made their way over to the main school building.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Izuku's eyes slowly fluttered open, only for him to squint at the bright sunlight shining in through a window on the wall facing him. Sitting up in the bed he was somehow laying in, he saw Skeleton Might sitting in a chair next to his bed, reading the newspaper.

"H-Hey All Might...Where are we?"

"Ah, glad to see you're awake, my boy." He folded the newsprint closed and tucked it under his arm. "We are in the UA infirmary. Do you remember what happened before you passed out?"

Izuku crossed his arms and furrowed his brow in thought, "We were in Gym Gamma. I was trying to use Full Cowl and Animorph at the same time. I felt really weird, and then everything went black after that."

"Yes, you lost control of your transformation and began changing wildly. My guess would be that One For All is still a relatively new entity in your body compared to your natural quirk, so it was difficult for the two to be in harmony and completely under your control."

Taking in this new information, Izuku nodded slowly, "So, what should I do?"

"I can't give you all the answers, young man. This is something that is specific to you and your quirks. At the end of the day, only you can figure it out."

' _I want to help you grow into a strong hero, my boy. You'll never get there if I tell you everything every step of the way. This is as much of a test for you as it is for me.'_

Izuku swung his legs over the bed and slowly got to his feet. Flexing his limbs, he nodded to himself. "I feel pretty good. Let's get back, I have a lot of work to do."

All Might smiled widely, "After you, Young Midoriya."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Stepping back into Gym Gamma, Izuku froze in his tracks when his eyes landed on the new person in the room, standing next to Principal Nezu.

"Ah! Glad to see that you're already up and about again. I heard what happened earlier, and decided to enlist in the help of one of our faculty members to control the situation in case your quirk gets out of hand again."

Izuku gulped as Nezu gestured to the pro-hero standing next to him. "Y-Y-Y-You're...!"

"That's right, young man! Midoriya Izuku, please meet current UA teacher, and pro-hero…"

"Midnight!" Said woman exclaimed, chuckling sheepishly at Nezu, she clasped her hands together, handcuffs rattling on her wrists at the motion. "Hehehe...Sorry, I just got a little excited." She turned to Izuku and licked her lips provocatively, "Now, aren't you a little cutie pie! It's very nice to meet you, Midoriya-kun, I hope you'll be a good boy and won't cause me too much trouble...Though, that might just turn me on~" Izuku shivered in fear and backed up a few paces, only to have Midnight's whip inches from his face. "Now, now, don't be scared, young man. I'm here to help." She gave him a reassuring grin pulled her weapon away, resting her hands on her hips. "I'm honestly interested to see this animal quirk in action, so I'll let you get started. And don't worry, anything goes wrong, I'll come calm you down using my quirk. Think of me as a sort of ultra beautiful, sexy, youthful, angelic zookeeper with the best tranquilizer on the market." Swaying her hips as she walked over to the side of the room to take a seat in the comfy recliner she had brought in...What? Just because she was on duty didn't mean that she wasn't allowed to do it in luxury. She giggled to herself as she heard Izuku's flustered stammering. "Man, I love my job."

Finally recovering from Midnight and her provocations, Izuku readied himself to attempt to integrate his two quirks once more. "Okay, I can do this. I can do this…" Izuku repeated his mantra over and over in his head. He activated Full Cowl, and spread his legs shoulder width apart. "Okay, and...Transform!"

Gorilla-zuku was visibly straining, barely able to move before he morphed back to normal, panting heavily. Shaking it off, he tried once more, now opting for a different animal in his repertoire.

Cheetah-zuku encountered the same issue, barely able to move before Izuku had to transform back, looking much more drained than before.

"Damn it!" Izuku racked his brain, trying to find the solution to his pressing issue. Not wanting to give up, Izuku kept at it, trying any animal that he could think of while keeping Full Cowl activated. ' _I need to do this! I've come this far, I can't let this hold me down. One For All and Animorph. Control them both! They're both yours to wield!'_

"Young Midoriya, don't overexert yourself!" All Might came up to the panting boy, only to be met with a defiant stare.

"No, All Might! I can do this! I have to!" The glow around Izuku intensified as dust around him began to whip up into the air. The green sparks coming off of him shot around sporadically, before he was enveloped in a shining white light.

All Might had to cover his eyes to shield them from the bright light emanating from his pupil as Midnight rushed to his side.

"What the hell is happening to him, All Might?" Midnight was about to pull her sleeve down to activate her quirk and stop Izuku from getting any more out of control, but a firm hand of All Might's kept her from doing it.

"Wait, Kayama-san! Look!" They both turned their attentions to Izuku, and their response was identical.

"Holy shit…"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Anybody that's ever been in school at some point is well aware of the absolute nerve-wracked mess that students can become any time an assessment or examination of some sort comes around. You worry that you're forgetting something, or that you're going to be late, or literally anything else that could possibly go wrong, will go wrong. Now of course, that's not taking examinations for adolescents with super powers aiming to become professional heroes into account—

"I'm freaking out, I'm freaking out!"

—But from a logical standpoint, those types of examinations would probably be even more nerve-wracking.

The time had finally come. It was the morning of UA's annual entrance exam. Izuku rocked back and forth in his seat at the table in his kitchen, scarfing a bowl of katsudon down his gullet, somehow screaming in absolute angst as he ate. His mother sat across from him, trying her best to calm him down, but to little avail.

"Honey, you just need to relax okay? Everything is going to be fine." Not getting a response from her son, she resorted to unorthodox methods in order to get his attention. Using her quirk, Inko attracted a phone book from across the room, directly behind Izuku's head. The book connected with a *thud* and managed to snap him out of his anxiety attack.

"H-Huh, wha…"

Inko got out of her seat and crouched by Izuku's side, planting her hands firmly on his shoulders. "Sweetie, just take slow breaths. I need you to listen to me, okay?" Getting a shaky nod from her precious son, she continued, gently caressing his cheek, "I know you're nervous, it is a big day after all. But you've worked so hard to come this far, I just know that you're going to do great. This is just another step for you. You're strong, smart, and there is no one I can think of that deserves this more than you." Pressing her forehead gently against Izuku's, she closed her eyes and smiled, "Go show them what you're made of, okay?"

Izuku sniffled and wiped a few tears rolling down his cheeks. He nodded and embraced his mother tightly, feeling all the tension washing away as she rubbed his back affectionately. Gathering his things, he hugged her once more for good luck, and quickly made his way out the door. He had an exam to get to, after all.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Despite the fact that Izuku had been to UA's grounds many times over the past few weeks, he still found himself astounded staring up at the humongous building where the exam orientation was being held. Some other examinees gave him odd looks as they walked by him, but he paid them no mind. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, making sure he remained calm for what was to come.

"Okay, I got this." He didn't got this. The first step he took, his back foot caught on his front, causing him to trip and fall face-first towards the ground. ' _Or I'll just fall and hit my face on the pavement. This is it, isn't it. This is where it all ends. I'm sorry All Might. I'm sorry mom, I'm sorry Lord Helix…Huh?'_ Izuku opened his eyes in surprise to see that he was no longer falling towards the ground and was just floating there.

"Sorry, I used my quirk on you without asking, I just didn't want you to fall. It would be bad luck to trip and fall right before the exam!"

Izuku turned his head to see a girl standing next to him, large brown eyes looking into his own, a friendly grin on her face, accentuated by two permanent blush marks on her cheeks. "Oh sorry, I should let you down," she scratched the back of her chocolate-brown hair and pressed the tips of her fingers together, "Release!" She straightened Izuku out and stepped back to give him another smile, "There you go!"

Izuku couldn't help but be affected by her infectious personality and soon found himself grinning as well, "Thanks a lot, you really saved my ass there, huh? Your quirk is pretty interesting, do you mind if I ask what it is?"

"Oh, sure. I don't mind at all. I'm Uraraka Ochako, by the way. And you are?"

Ochako sweatdropped when she saw that Izuku had pulled a notebook and was writing something in it, ' _How did he do that so fast without me even seeing?'_

"It's very nice to meet you, Uraraka-san, my name's—"

"Deku!"

The teens turned to see Bakugo scowling at them as he walked up in their direction, hands dug into his pockets.

"Oh hey, Kacchan. How's it going?"

"Shut the fuck up! Don't give me none of that shit! What the hell are you doing standing out here talkin' to some chick? You tryna fuck yourself up for the exam or what?"

"Come on, Kacchan, we were just having a friendly conversation. She saved me from falling and I was thanking her."

Katsuki shifted his piercing gaze over to Ochako, who squirmed uncomfortably, and kissed his teeth. "Whatever. You should've let the damn nerd fall and break his dumb fucking face. Just hurry up and finish talking to your girlfriend, I'll see you inside." With that, Katsuki brushed past them and made his way into the building.

Ochako and Izuku watched Katsuki as he walked away, "So, uhhh...What was that all about?"

"Oh, that was my best friend. He's here taking the exam too."

Uraraka looked at him in disbelief, "You guys are _best friends_?"

Izuku chuckled lightly, "Yeah I get that a lot. Kacchan is...A bit on the abrasive side, but he's a good guy, trust me." He pulled his sleeve down and checked the time on his watch. "Oh, we better get inside, don't want to be late and get locked out or penalized or something."

Ochako nodded in agreement and the two aspiring heroes briskly made their way inside.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Thank you very much." Bidding farewell the the service attendant, Izuku made his way towards the auditorium, scanning his examinee identification card over once more to make sure he was headed towards the correct seat. Combing up the aisles, he found his assigned seat and scooted his way past the other examinees and sat down, seeing Katsuki already there.

"Bout time you showed up, nerd." Katsuki mumbled through the hand he was resting his chin on. "That written exam was such a waste of fucking time."

Izuku shrugged his shoulders, "Well they have to weed people out in as many ways as they can, I guess. But you're right, it was pretty easy. I think I finished it in about 45 minutes."

"Tch, get your shit together, Deku. I finished it easily in 35. Maybe if you weren't flirting with that round-faced chick, you would've been more focused."

"You gotta lighten up a bit, Kacchan. I told you already, I was thanking her for helping me, that's all. You really gotta get over your vendetta with girls, dude. You're gonna wind up dying alone with no one to hold you at night if you're not careful."

"Fuck you, Deku! Just because you wanna waste your time around with distractions, doesn't mean I'm going to. And don't act like you got any girls after you or anything like that, either!" Katsuki's voice went quiet as he saw the nervous look pass over Izuku's face for a brief second. "You don't have any girl after you, right?"

Suddenly finding part of the ceiling very interesting, Izuku exclaimed when the light's went dim and a spotlight shone down on the podium on the stage below them. "Oh look, it's starting! Whoa it's Present Mic! Cool!" Izuku's eyes glimmered with excitement at seeing the pro hero about to give the introduction for the next segment of their exam.

"Hello there, all you listeners! We are just about to get started, but first...Can I get a 'YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH'?!" Present Mic chuckled nervously at the complete silence resonating throughout the room, "Ahem...Hehe, tough crowd. I'm sure you're all just nervous and want to keep it mellow. Anyway, let's talk about how this practical exam is gonna go…" The blonde pro hero clicked towards the giant screen behind him with his controller, showing a blueprint of several artificially constructed city-blocks. "As you know, you rockin' young folks are gonna complete 10-minute long mock battles in these kick-ass urban settings! After I'm done dropping all this hot knowledge, you're all gonna go to your specified battle grounds listed on your examinee ID card, yeah!"

"Guess they wanna seperate people in the same school so we don't help each other," Izuku muttered, looking over at Katsuki's card indicating that his was in Ground A instead of Ground B like him.

"Yeah they probably want to maximize the chance to see what each person can do on their own in a foreign environment. Tch, you better not fuck up without me there, Deku."

Izuku turned to his friend with a slight grin, "Don't worry about me, Kacchan. I'm ready for this."

"Alright, alright, alright!" Present Mic resumed, "Let's take a look at the unlucky targets that you will be combatting today!" The screen changed to show silhouettes of three different robo-villains, each with a different numbers over them. "There are three different types of villain, increasing in point value as they increase in difficulty. The goal of this test is to see just how you can use your quirks to show these robo-villains who's boss! But make sure you're keeping things clean, attacking other examinees is a BIG TIME no no, you catch my drift, party people?"

Suddenly, an examinee shot up from their seat, "Excuse me, sir, but I have a question that requires immediate attention regarding this examination!"

"Hit me with the good stuff, my man!"

A spotlight shined down on the examinee, and he held up the information sheet that was given to everyone that was taking the exam. "According to this supposedly official printout provided to each and every examinee regarding the practical assessment, there should be 4 villains that can appear, not 3. Are you meaning to tell me that a prestigious institution such as UA is distributing false information to its potential students?" The boy pushed his glasses up and suddenly turned to Izuku and Katsuki with a glare. "And you two with the unkempt hairstyles! You have been causing a disruption to this vital information session with your incessant chatter! If you two can't bother to take an occasion like this seriously, then leave. You're distracting the rest of us who are actually trying to become respectable heroes."

Katsuki bared his teeth in anger, "The fuck did you say, four eyes?! How bout you come up here and say that to my face?!"

As angry as he was himself, Izuku still managed to hold Katsuki from jumping down to the other teen's seat, "Kacchan, take it easy! You're gonna get disqualified this way! Forget about him!"

Katsuki ultimately relented and sat back down, "Tch, fucking asshole is lucky I don't blow his stupid face up right now."

Izuku made eye contact with the blue-haired teen once more, returning his unapproving stare with full force before Present Mic spoke up.

"Alright, calm down everyone. Now, good question, examinee 7111, thanks for calling in! The fourth villain type is worth a whopping 0 points, so think of it more as an obstacle than a villain to face. It's not that it's impossible to beat, but there is really no point. There's one in every battle centre, try to avoid it if you can, mmkay?"

The blue-haired teen bowed, almost headbutting his desk, "Thank you very much. Please continue!"

Present Mic threw his arms out in a grandiose fashion, "Well that's all I got, folks! I'll be signing off with some departing words, a sample of our school motto! As the great Napoleon Bonaparte once laid down, 'A true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes.' Oh yeah, now that's a tasty sound bite! Now…" Present Mic said, giving the crowd a smirk, "Are you ready to go beyond...PLUS ULTRA!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

[Battle Centre B]

Stepping off of the bus that brought all the examinees to the battle grounds, Izuku found himself a spot near the large entrance gates to mentally prepare himself. He idly pulled at the sleeves of his bodysuit as he stared up at the giant doors leading to the battle site. "Whew, this is it. Time to put all my training to the test. Once those doors open, there's no looking back." Taking a second to look around, Izuku caught sight of a familiar brown head of hair. "Oh, it's Uraraka-san! I should go thank her again and wish her luck!" Izuku began walking in her direction, but a firm grip on his shoulder kept him from moving any further. He turned around to see the tall, blue-haired guy who called him out during the information session, glaring at him disapprovingly.

Izuku narrowed his eyes at the teen, "You need something?"

"That girl over there looks like she's trying to focus on what's to come. What are you trying to do? Distract her and hurt her chances at success in the examination?"

Izuku frowned and brushed the hand off of his shoulder, "Have we met?"

"No, we haven't. I'm—"

"Then don't try and act like you know everything about me." With that, Izuku walked off, leaving the bespectacled teen to stare askance at his back.

"Hey, Uraraka-san!" Izuku called, walking up to the girl. She turned and gave him a small wave.

"Oh hey! Nice suit!" She gave an approving thumbs up to the freckled teen. "Man, I'm feeling kinda nervous for this battle test. I thought I did pretty good on the written exam, but this is something totally different!" Ochako patted her chest to try and calm her rapid heartbeat.

"Nah, I'm sure you're gonna do just fine. I can tell." Izuku reassured her with a smile.

Returning the grin, Ochako breathed out slowly, "Thanks. I appreciate the faith. What about you, Deku-kun? You seem pretty cool and collected about it."

"Well, you know I—" Izuku stopped mid sentence when he realized what Ochako had called him, "Wait, where did you hear that name?"

Ochako looked at him confusedly, "That's what your friend Kacchan, called you. Deku, right?"

"Ah, I see." Izuku nodded in understanding. "Those are nicknames we have had for each other since we were little kids. My actual name is Midoriya Izuku."

"Oh, I'm so sorry! But you know, I kind of like the sound of Deku. It sounds sort of like Dekiru, and it's saying like 'I never give up'!" Ochako said, pumping her fist in the air.

Izuku's face fell into a soft grin, "You know what, I kinda like that. Call me Deku if you like, Uraraka-san!"

Ochako cheered and leaned forward with her fists balled in front of her, "Okay! Let's both do our best and pass the exam, Deku-kun!"

"Alright, let's start!"

Everyone looked up towards the tower on the corner of the wall surrounding the site, where Present Mic was positioned. "What are you all standing around for, huh? There are no countdowns in real battles! Let's rock and roll!"

The large gates swung open, and instinctively, Izuku dashed ahead and made his way into the site, not even sparing a glance to anyone else behind him.

"He has the right idea!" Present Mic yelled, swinging his arm in a circular motion, "YEAH!"

As soon as Izuku made it a block into the battle site, he smiled to himself, "Man am I pumped!" Quickly morphing into a rhinoceros, Izuku plowed through a group of 1-pointers and skidded to a stop behind the wreckage as he went human again. "I guess there's no reason to hold back here. Gotta make the most of my lead while I got it." Izuku exhaled and closed his eyes.

" _No, All Might! I can do this! I have to!" The glow around Izuku intensified as dust around him began to whip up into the air. The green sparks coming off of him shot around sporadically, before he was enveloped in a shining white light._

 _All Might had to cover his eyes to shield them from the bright light emanating from his pupil as Midnight rushed to his side._

" _What the hell is happening to him, All Might?" Midnight was about to pull her sleeve down to activate her quirk and stop Izuku from getting any more out of control, but a firm hand of All Might's kept her from doing it._

" _Wait, Kayama-san! Look!" They both turned their attentions to Izuku, and their response was identical._

" _Holy shit…"_

 _After the bright light faded, the two pro heroes found themselves face to face with Izuku in the form of a grizzly bear, green fur tinted with Full Cowl's orange glow, and the signature green sparks shooting off his body every few moments. Somehow, this form of Izuku managed to convey what looked like a proud smirk as it took a few steps forward. As he moved, he tried a multitude of animals, all much more powerful than he could ever remember them being._

 _All Might couldn't believe his eyes, "The raw power that Young Midoriya is giving off is...Incredible! It's almost as if his animal forms are more physically gifted and fit than they were before..." 'I can't believe you managed to sync One For All with your being. I'm so proud, my boy.'_

"The results of my training...I'm going to show exactly what I'm capable of!" Activating Full Cowl, Izuku cracked his neck and put on a smirk that Katsuki would be proud to see. "Now let's have some fun."

The rest of the examinees who had finally caught up stared slack-jawed at the glowing-orange panther speeding away into the heart of the city, leaving cracks in the ground where it trod.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

[Battle Centre A]

"Die!"

Katsuki let off a massive explosion between his palms, blowing the entire top half off of a 3-pointer as the rest of it crashed into the ground. Katsuki landed nimbly and cracked his knuckles. "Ha ha! That's 73 fucking points!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Katsuki saw a 3-pointer come zooming out of an alley and try to blindside him. "Nice try, fucker!" Katsuki spun around on his heel, palm sparking and ready to strike, but before he could make contact with it, a giant hand came flying in and smashed the robot into the ground. Katsuki followed the hand to its owner and saw some chick with an orange ponytail running down the side of her head land in front of him.

"Are you alright?" She asked, shrinking her giant fist back to normal size.

"Hehhh?! What the fuck are you doing stealing my points you fat hand bitch?!" Katsuki yelled.

The girl looked disbelieved, "I just helped you and you thank me by insulting me?! What's your problem?!"

"YOU'RE my fucking problem!" Katsuki pointed an accusing finger at the girl, "I didn't need your shitty help, now stay out of my way!" He spat at her feet before launching himself off to find more robots to destroy.

The girl stood there, scowling at Katsuki. "What an asshole. Whatever, I don't have time for this, I need to keep getting points!" She ran down the street, only to be cut off by a group of four 3-pointers and quickly found herself surrounded. She turned to and fro, trying to make sure none of them attacked her blindspot while she formulated a plan. One of them managed to catch her off guard and smack her across the back, sending her flying across the street. The orangette gripped her side in pain as she slowly pulled herself up, "Owww…" She heard the rumbling of the robots coming towards her, but she could hardly move due to the impact she just felt.

"Eat shit, metal bastards!" Her head shot up to see Katsuki rocketing down from the sky, impacting one of the 3-pointers on the back with a powerful blast, before he propelled himself through the air, literally blowing _through_ the other three giant machines. He leaped down to the ground and landed nimbly in front of the girl he just saved.

"I guess you're gonna come rub it in my face that you got those points, huh?"

He glowered at her for a few seconds before pulling her up and throwing her arm over his shoulder.

"W-What are you doing?!"

"You got beat the fuck up. I'm saving you. I didn't ask for your help before, so we're fucking even now, got it?" Katsuki said, keeping his eyes forward as he helped take the girl to safety.

"Thanks," She said quietly.

"Whatever."

"I'm Kendo Itsuka by the way," She shifted slightly to support more of her own weight, "I think I can walk by myself."

Katsuki said nothing, but he did not let go of her or stop walking.

"Did you hear what I said? I'm fine!" Kendo began squirming in Katsuki's grasp, causing him to growl in frustration.

"Shut up and stop moving! I'm already carrying your sorry ass, just take it!"

Kendo pouted, but refrained from fighting anymore.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

[Battle Centre B]

"Whoooo!"

Izuku was having the time of his life. He forgot just how fun it was to let loose and use his quirk, and now that he could add One For All into the equation, it made it that much more awesome.

Leaping off the top of a building, Izuku swan dived towards a pack of robots, morphing into an African Bush Elephant and body slamming down on an unsuspecting 2-pointer. He was amazed by just how much more power was packed into his animal forms now that he could use Full Cowl at the same time. As Kacchan would say, it was fucking badass.

Swinging his glowing trunk from side to side, Izuku easily smashed away two more 2-pointers, bringing his total score up to 49. He turned back to normal and looked around at all of the wreckage left by all of the examinees. "Huh, I wonder if there are any robots left?"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

[UA Monitor Room]

The camera panned out to show the street Izuku was on, next two countless other screens showing live footage of other examinees throughout the battle sites. Rows of examiners were scribbling away at what they were observing.

"Obviously none of the examinees know how many villains are present, or where they might be at any given moment. That sense of mystery drives a sense of urgency into their beings." The pale light from the display shined eerily on Principal Nezu's face.

"Hmm...I'd say this year's batch of potential candidates is quite promising," One of the examiners observed.

Nezu chuckled to himself, "Well there is still some time before it's over. Let's give them the real test, shall we?" A panel opened up on the dashboard under the monitor to reveal a large red button reading 'BIG ASS ROBOT RELEASE SWITCH'. Nezu pushed the button, "Let's see how they react?"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

[Battle Site B]

The ground began rumbling violently as giant clouds of dirt were thrown up into the air. All of the examinees stopped and turned to see a massive shadow looming over even the tallest buildings in the site.

"Holy shit, it's the 0-pointer!"

"Are they insane?! That thing is huge!"

As the massive mechanical villain menacingly trod through the street, its sheer size caused surrounding windows to shatter and it felt like the very earth was shifting as it moved.

Izuku caught up to the large crowd that had formed once the 0-pointer was released. Staring up at the metal monstrosity, everyone there had the same thought reach their minds.

"RUN!"

Dozens of feet rapidly pounded on the pavement just as the giant villain reached down with its giant hand and reduced an adjacent building to a heap of rubble. Izuku transformed into a cheetah and was about to make a break for it himself, but his ultra-sensitive feline ears picked up the faintest of cries amidst all of the chaos.

"...Owww…"

Izuku whipped his head towards the source of the sound and his eyes widened when he saw Ochako sprawled out on the ground, her leg seemingly trapped under a large piece of debris.

"Uraraka-san!" Before he could even tell his body to move, Izuku was zooming towards his fallen friend as fast as he could, passing by and confusing many other examinees that were running away from the 0-pointer.

He stopped before her and went gorilla to fling the piece of debris off of her before turning back to normal, "Are you alright?"

"Deku-kun! My ankle...I don't think I can walk…"

Izuku looked back up at the 0-pointer, which was coming closer and closer. "Uraraka-san, I'm gonna help you get to safety, okay?"

Ochako nodded, "Thanks, we probably still have time to run away if we hurry!"

Izuku laughed out loud, "Hell no, we are beating that thing!" Seeing Ochako's stunned face, he gave her a thumbs up, "Trust me, I know what I'm doing, but I'm gonna need just a tad bit of help, okay? So here's what we are gonna do…"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

[UA Monitor Room]

Everyone stared fascinatingly at the scene unfolding before their very eyes, as Izuku put his plan into motion.

"There are no combat rewarded for defeating the humongous villain... But there is opportunity!"

The screen zoomed in on Izuku in his gorilla form, carrying Ochako on his back as he rapidly scaled the side of the tallest building right next to the 0-pointer. Reaching the top, Gorilla-zuku leaped off of the roof, sailing through the air towards the head of the massive villain.

"A chance to shine...To show us what you're really made of! Show who you are, embody what it truly means to be a hero. There is nothing nobler than giving your all to protect those in need!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

[Battle Site B]

As Ochako and Izuku sailed through the air towards the 0-pointer, the brunette girl breathed deeply to calm herself, "Okay, I can do this, Deku-kun can do this. Just follow the plan."

" _...So here's what we are gonna do…" Izuku began, "I'm gonna carry you on my back in Gorilla mode and scale the building right here. Once I get to the top, I'm gonna jump towards the 0-pointer, and I want you to use your quirk on me so I can maximize my air time. Right before we make it within range of that thing, you release your quirk and I will be in position to finish it off. But the thing is, I can't talk when I'm in my animal forms, so I will need your help with something on that front, okay?"_

The pair flew within striking range Ochako pressed her fingertips together, "Release!" Feeling slightly nauseous from using her quirk, Ochako did her best to shake the feeling and hold on tight as Izuku prepared to destroy the 0-pointer.

Izuku began rapidly swinging his right arm backwards in a circular motion, feeling the power of One For All coursing through his arm as he charged up.

Counting 11 spins in her head, Ochako readied herself for Izuku's attack, simultaneously in awe of his glowing and crackling right arm. Izuku cocked his fist back, and Ochako took the deepest breath she could.

" _Every awesome move has to have its name called out or else it really isn't a special move! Since I can't yell it, I want you to yell it when I do! Clench your buttcheeks, and yell deep from within your heart…"_

"CONGO SMAAASHH!"

Izuku's large fist flung forward and impacted the 0-pointer with an earth-shattering crash, sending the goliath reeling backwards with a sedan sized crater in the middle of its face. The explosion that the strike had caused multiplied down the robot's body, causing it to collapse in heaps to the ground below.

Ochako and Izuku bulleted towards the ground at breakneck speed, stopping just before they became a splat on the pavement thanks to Ochako's quirk. She released it, allowing them to touch down, before she hunched over with a sickly green face.

"Blegggggghhhhhh" Izuku rubbed Ochako's back comfortingly, trying to help alleviate her motion sickness. He completely ignored the many bewildered stares he was receving from the other examinees, only looking up when he heard the siren sounding off to signal that the examination was over.

"Very nice, good work all around, you young whippersnappers. You're heroes in my eyes, every one of you!" Recovery girl said as she hobbled through the crowd, "Here's some gummies, don't be shy," She pulled the candies out of her pockets and handed them out to whomever she passed by , "Yes, yes, don't eat them all at once, okay?"

She made her way up to Izuku and Ochako, and smiled knowingly at the boy, "You look like you could use some help, sonny!" Izuku chuckled as he looked down at his slightly burnt arm, "Let me take care of that for you." Recovery Girl smooched Izuku on his head, causing the teen to sigh in relief as the pain washed away from his body. She turned to Ochako, who had suppressed her motion sickness, "Oh dearie, your ankle looks pretty banged up there." Recovery Girl extended her lips and used her quirk on the injured girl, watching her ankle reset itself under the green glow of the healing factor.

Ochako stood up and tested her ankle, "Wow, it feels as good as new! Thank you so much!"

"Yes yes that's quite alright, dearie." Recovery Girl waved her off with a swing of her cane, "Now if you're all not injured, go home! We gotta clean up this place now, you know!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"You were so cool, Deku-kun! You were like punch-punch-punch! Smash-smash-smash! And it was so cool getting to yell out your special move, we gotta do that again!" Izuku laughed at Ochako's excitement as they made their way outside.

"Yeah it was really cool, we make a pretty good team." Izuku said, scratching the back of his neck.

Ochako nodded happily, "Totally!" Izuku turned in confusion when he noticed Ochako had stopped walking, "Hey Deku, let's play a game, alright? On the count of 3, name your favourite dinosaur, don't even think about it, just name it. Ready? 1, 2, 3!"

"Velociraptor!"/"Velociraptor!"

Visibly impressed, Izuku posed his own question, "Favourite song to have a dance party to."

"Every time we touch by Cascada!"/ "Every time we touch by Cascada!"

"If you were an egg, how would you want to be cooked?"

"Scrambled with cheese!"/"Scrambled with cheese!"

"What?!" Ochako exclaimed.

"Did we just become best friend?!"

"Yup!" The two high fived, then immediately broke out into uncontrollable laughter.

"Fuck off!" Their laughter ceased as they heard Katsuki yell his profanity and turned to see him stomping in their direction with his hands in his pockets, being followed by some orange-haired girl neither of them had ever seen before.

"Oh, hey Kacchan, how did the exam go for you?"

"Shut up, Deku! Let's get out of here, this damn chick won't stop following me!" He stuck his thumb behind him towards Kendo, who was glaring at the fuming teen with her arms crossed.

"This 'damn chick' has a name, you dick!"

"I already told you I don't care what your fucking name is!"

Thoroughly confused, Izuku thought it was as good of a time as any to find out what the hell was going on, "Uh, Kacchan...Who is this?"

Before Katsuki could reply, Kendo butted past him, "Kendo Itsuka, nice to meet you!" She shook Izuku's hand, pouting at Katsuki the entire time.

"Uhh...Nice to meet you too, Kendo-san. I'm Midoriya Izuku, and this is my friend Uraraka Ochako." He said, pointing to the brunette by his side, who then waved to the other girl.

"Hehhhh?! Round-face? What the fuck are you doing here?!"

"Kacchan, I literally _just_ said what her name was!" Izuku rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Well anyway, how do you know Kacchan, Kendo-san?"

"Oh so Kacchan is your name, was that so hard to tell me?"

Katsuki stuck a finger in Kendo's face, "Fuck you, fat hands! You don't get to call me that!"

"Pffft!" Ochako burst out laughing at the scene, "You guys are so funny!"

Izuku stepped in between the two arguing teens, "Okay that was my fault. Kendo-san, this is Bakugo Katsuki. Now please tell me, how is it that you two know each other?"

"We helped each other in the exam."

"Fuck you! You didn't help me! You stole my points!" Katsuki growled.

Izuku sighed wearily, "Okay this is going to go on for a while….Kacchan, you wanna go get ramen at the spot?" Getting a grunt of approval from his oldest friend, he turned to the two females, "You guys wanna come?"

"Sure!" Ochake beamed, "We can talk about how the exam went and stuff!"

"Deku, you fuck! Don't invite fat hands!"

Kendo smirked smugly at Katsuki, "I would love to come, Midoriya!"

"Alright so that's that! I'm starving."

Izuku and his two new friends began to walk away, leaving Katsuki to stay rooted in place, grinding his teeth in anger. "Fuck you guys!" he yelled before quickly walking after them.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

 **Holy~! Finally done! Next chapter is gonna start with UA orientation and all that jazz, but with a twist! What does that mean? Who knows? Guess you'll have to tune in and find out.**

 **Also, you are absolutely right Congo Smash was 100% Donkey Kong's Neutral B in Smash Bros. And fun fact for you guys, I called it Congo Smash because the Eastern Lowland Gorilla live in the DRC.**

 **Okay, that's all I got. Later!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay y'all, I am back. Took a bit longer with this chapter, but to be fair, I have gone back to work so I have a little bit less time on my hands to write. I still stand by my principle in that I will never release a chapter earlier than I think it's absolutely ready, so like I said, Wednesdays won't always be update days.**

 **Unrelated, I watched the first few episodes of Darling in the Franxx, and lemme tell you...That shit is pretty weak, son. Absolutely would not recommend.**

 **Also, started playing Apex Legends, and that game is hella lit.**

 **Also also, Happy All Star Weekend!**

 **Okay, later!**

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

There is a world famous saying that many people try and live by.

Patience is a virtue.

Now, this proverbial phrase was one that Izuku was very familiar with. His mother had never had problems with him being overly restless as a child, and often times Izuku found that he could wait patiently for things very easily. Oddly enough, waiting on his acceptance letter from UA was not something he found that he could be patient about. It also did not help to Izuku's peace of mind that he hadn't been able to contact All Might since the day of the exam.

Izuku was sitting on the sofa in his living room, idly flipping through the channels as his mind was preoccupied with thoughts regarding his acceptance into his dream hero school. Nozomi laid next to him, curled up and enjoying the warmth of the blanket draped over her. "Man, you're so lucky. You don't have to worry about anything, do you girl?" He sighed, scratching her behind the ear. He turned towards the front door and stared at it wistfully, trying to mentally will the mailman to come and slide his acceptance letter through the mail slot. Grabbing his phone from the coffee table, he leaned back in his chair and began typing out a message.

[Super Duper Hero Friends Group Chat]

[Izuku] Hey you guys, did anyone get their UA acceptance letters yet?

[Katsuki] Fuck you, Deku! Why are you messaging me so late, I'm trying to sleep!

[Itsuka] -_- Bakugo it's like 8:43 pm…

[Katsuki] FUCK U FAT HANDS I WANNA SLEEP

[Ochako] I haven't gotten my letter yet either. It's been a week already, wonder what they're taking so long for?

[Itsuka] Yeah me either. They will probably come soon, just be patient

[Izuku] Easy for you to say, I'm going crazy over here! Well, when you guys get yours, tell me!

[Ochako] Will do, Deku!

[Itsuka] Yeah, no problem. Though, Old Man Bakugo will probably be long asleep if it comes today lol

[Katsuki] You're asking to die, you orange headed fuck

[Ochako] PFFFT LMAO!

"Izuku, honey! Dinner's ready!" Izuku shook his head amusedly and pocketed his phone and stood up, stretching his compressed limbs after sitting for so long. UA could wait till dinner was done, at the very least.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Holy cowl, am I full!" Izuku collapsed onto his bed holding his distended belly, groaning as the full force of his meal began to kick in. Nozomi hopped up on the bed and laid down next to him, tongue hanging out in a satisfied manner. "Oh girl, don't I know it. Mom makes the best rib eye, I'm pretty sure I ate like 45 pounds of food. The food coma is setting in." Just as Izuku felt his eyes begin to droop and fatigue begin to take over, he heard a furious rapping on his door.

Looking up startledly, Izuku saw the door swing up to reveal his mother crawling on the floor towards him. "I-I-I-I-I-Izuku!" She held out her hand, and in it was a white envelope with a seal of Ua's crest on the front. "It's here!"

"AHHH!" Izuku jolted out of bed and was in front of his mother in an instant. He carefully grabbed the letter from her and stared at it disbelievingly. "It's here…"

His mom slowly stood up and pushed Izuku's hands towards his body, "Go on, honey. Open it. I'll give you some privacy, but tell me all about it afterwards, okay? I just know you got in, trust your mother's instincts" Inko gave her son the brightest smile she could remember having on her face since her wonderful Izuku was brought into the world and she got to hold him for the first time.

"Mom…"

" *Sniff* I'm so proud of you sweetie." Inko gently kissed Izuku on the forehead and quickly wiped away her steadily flowing tears, "Now hurry up and open it."

Izuku nodded vigorously and sat down at his desk as his mother left the room to give him some privacy.

"Whew, okay...This is it…Gently now…" Pausing for a second, Izuku stared at the envelope before ripping it open as fast as he could. Some sort of silver disc clanked onto the table, causing Izuku to squint in confusion. "What the...What the hell is this?" He pressed the button in the centre of the disc and recoiled backwards when a beam of light shot upwards from it and began shining onto his wall.

" **I AM HERE! COMING TO YOU AS A PROJECTION!** "

"AHH...Jesus Christ!" Izuku exclaimed, clutching his heart, "Fucking All Might…Wait isn't this from UA, why is he on the projection?"

" **I know it's been quite some time, but you know a pro hero's schedule can get swamped in the blink of an eye, and with great power comes with an even greater amount of paperwork! Sorry, the truth is, I didn't come to this town just to fight villains...I also got hired as THE NEWEST UA FACULTY MEMBER!** "

"Whoa...You're seriously gonna be a teacher at UA?"

A hand popped out of the corner of the screen and began making a 'hurry up' motion. " **Yes what's the problem? I'm spending too much time showboating? Okay, sorry I'll wrap it up but I have to...Wait I have to do how many of these videos? Wasting time and money for the broadcasting department by even having this conversation right now? Okay, okay sorry, I'll be quick.** "

Izuku rolled his eyes and impatiently drummed on his desk with his fingers, "This is the number 1 hero in the world…"

" **So! Moving on…** " All Might cleared his throat, " **I must say, Young Midoriya, your scores on the entrance exam surprised even me! You passed the written exam with a score of 96%! And the practical portion...Whoowee my boy did you SHOW EM WHO'S BOSS! You scored 46 villain points, good for 6th place!** "

Izuku wasn't sure how he felt about that, "I'm glad I passed, but 6th place? Come on...All Might believed in me, Mom, Kacchan, everyone…6th place is dog shit for what I know I can do...Not even top 5!"

" **Now 6th place is where you would be...If that were the only parameter around this examination…** "

The green-haired teen's head shot up, "What you talkin' bout, All Might?"

" **Everyone knows that the true meaning to being a hero is not defeating villains, but doing our best to help those in need, to save people at all costs. That's why...We have rescue points as well!** " All Might clicked a button on his remote to show a profile screen of Izuku, listing his candidate information and test results.

" **For your bravery and noble actions in the exam, you Midoriya Izuku were awarded…** "

"60 RESCUE POINTS!?"

" **That's right! 60 rescue points brings your total score up to 106 points! Good enough for a comfortable second place, my boy!** "

Izuku's face lit up with pride, "I...I got over 100 points! I got a top 3 score at the best hero school in the country! Hmm, I wonder if Kacchan got first place…"

" **You've made me proud as a mentor, my boy. Your score ranks in the top 10 of ALL TIME UA exam scores! Enjoy this accomplishment, but remember that it only grows more and more difficult from this point forward. Welcome, Midoriya Izuku...To your Hero Academia!** "

With that, the projection faded, leaving Izuku alone in the room, the only light source being the small lamp he had on just barely illuminating the face-splitting grin he had on his face. He made eye contact with the All Might poster taped above his desk and made a face of inspired determination, "I won't let you down, All Might." Izuku picked up the torn envelope and saw that a letter had come with the projection disk and unfolded the paper to read it.

 _Dear Midoriya Izuku,_

 _Hello! I write this letter to you to inform you of your excellent performance in this year's UA Entrance Exam. You put on an impressive display and accumulated 46 villain points and 60 rescue points. Your score ranked you in at 2nd place of all examinees this year, so you should be very proud of yourself._

Izuku skimmed through most of the rest of the letter outlining school conduct and all of that boring stuff until he got to the next most important piece of information to him

 _As you may or may not already be aware, UA has an on-campus dormitory system, and all incoming students are expected to be moved in no later than 1 week before the day of orientation. Any required assistance for moving your personal items from your home to the dormitories will be happily provided by the school as long as the request is made at a reasonable time. The rooms provided are accompanied by the following amenities:_

 _Two single beds_

 _A full bathroom_

 _Two computers with desks_

 _Bookshelves_

 _A small kitchen_

 _A balcony_

 _Each room is assigned two students of the same gender chosen at random. Your room assignment is as follows:_

 _Dorm 1-A - Room 3-1_

 _Midoriya Izuku_

 _Todoroki Shoto_

 _Do not hesitate to contact the school faculty if there are any concerns or questions you have regarding the move-in or anything else leading up to the beginning of the school year. I am looking forward to seeing you at the orientation!_

 _Sincerely,_

 _Principal Nezu_

"Todoroki Shoto…" Why did that name ring such a bell? Izuku quickly slid across the room in his swivel chair and spun towards his Hero Drawers. Combing through his stacks of notes, he eureka'd when he found his 3rd volume, flipping through the pages until it landed on his hero analysis of the number 2 hero, Endeavour.

"Flame Hero: Endeavour. Legal name, Todoroki Enji...Yadda yadda...Father of 4. Hmm, I wonder…"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"What the fuck, you're bunking with Endeavour's kid?!"

Izuku and his little group of friends sat around his dinner table, knee deep in a discussion about their exam results and what was to come once hero school finally started.

Katsuki snatched Izuku's acceptance letter from his hands and scanned through it to confirm his friend's claim. "I saw him on the news with his kids one time. The one that looked closest to our age has some weird fucking half n' half hair or some shit, I think. OW!" Katsuki rubbed his arm where Kendo had just pinched him, "What's your fuckin' problem?!"

"Stop insulting people behind their backs," She scolded, "Anyways, great job on getting first and second on the exam, you two!"

Ignoring the pair's bickering, Izuku rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Endeavour's son, huh...I wonder what he's like…"

"Yeah, you both got such high scores~" Ochako added, resting her chin on the table with a pout, "Even with my 45 rescue points I still only managed to get 73…"

Kendo patted Ochako's head, "Don't be like that, Uraraka. You still did really well! You got higher than I did so if you feel bad, how am I supposed to feel, huh?"

"I only got 1 point more than you. Deku-kun got like 30 more! Bakugo-kun got even higher than that!"

"Exam scores don't mean shit now, round face. Once school comes around I'm gonna show everyone that I'm the best! You fucks included!"

"Easy for you to say, you got 120 points, Kacchan," Izuku chuckled, "Oh, by the way, who did you guys end up getting roomed with—" Izuku was interrupted by his phone vibrating on the table notifying that he was receiving a call. Much to his misfortune, the caller ID and photo appeared on the screen as well.

Before he could even realize it, Ochako had snatched the phone from off of the table, "Well what do we have here~? Deku-kun, who is Tatami and why is her caller ID photo a selfie of you two cheek to cheek, hmmm~?"

Izuku yelped and tried to reach for his phone, but found himself trapped in a large pair of hands, "What the…"

"Sorry, Midoriya. This has officially become an interrogation. Uraraka, answer the phone and put it on speaker,"

Izuku frantically tried to squirm out of Kendo's enlarged hands and get his phone back, "Kendo-san, Uraraka-san...Please! It's not what you think! Kacchan, help!" Izuku turned to his oldest friend in search of aid out of his embarrassing situation, only to see Katsuki getting up and walking away.

"Later."

Comical tears sprung from Izuku's eyes, "Judas!" He hissed. Still squirming, he shrieked when Ochako placed the phone on the table and hit the 'Answer' button.

"H-Hello?"

{"Hey Izuku! I heard from a friend of mine that the UA entrance exam results came out yesterday, how come you didn't call me as soon as you got it, huh?"}

"I-I'm sorry. I was a little overwhelmed by all of it yesterday...And I got the letter late in the evening so I went to sleep not long after I got my results." Izuku replied, trying his best to ignore Ochako and Itsuka's giggling fits.

{"Hmmph! You couldn't have at least sent me a text or something?"} Izuku had to stifle a laugh because he could _hear_ the pout Tatami had on her face. {"Well I guess there's nothing you can do about it now. Tell me how you did!"}

"I came in second place with 106 points. Apparently my score was also good enough to be ranked top 10 of all time UA exam candidates, too."

Tatami squealed in delight, clapping her hands excitedly, {"Oh Izuku I'm so proud! I knew you would do great!"} Izuku blushed at the praise, doing his best to avoid the teasing looks that Ochako and Kendo were giving him, {Oh man, I have to go...I'm not sure when the next time I could be in town to see you again, but I'll let you know as soon as I find out!"}

"O-Oh okay…"

{"C'mon Izuku, what did we say about confidence and passion? You want to see me, don't you?"}

Ochako had to cover her mouth with her hands to mute her laughter, and since Itsuka's were occupied, she resorted to biting down on her ponytail.

"Yes, I do!"

{"That's more like it!"} Tatami giggled, {"Oh, and I hope you know you're gonna get a great big reward for doing so well on your exam the next time we see each other! Bye bye~}

"Bye…" The line cut, and the room was immediately filled with relentless giggling. Itsuku let go of Izuku and had to lean on Ochako from her fits.

"You guys are so cute!" Ochako exclaimed, "Tell us everything! Where'd you meet? How long have you been dating? Have you kissed? Do you have more photos? Can we meet her too? Where does she live? Is she in the hero course too?" Ochako was stopped by Itsuka's hands coming over to cover her mouth.

"Whoa there, let's take it easy. We don't want to overload the poor guy's brain."

Izuku sighed in relief, "Thanks, Kendo-san."

"Oh you still are going to answer all of our questions, Midoriya. And if you try to run, well our quirks are pretty well suited for keeping you from doing that, wouldn't you agree, Uraraka?"

Ochako matched Itsuka's evil grin with one of her own, wiggling her fingers out at Izuku, "Don't make it harder than it has to be, Deku-kun!"

Katsuki returned to the room, wiping his still damp hands on his pants as he came back from the washroom, to see Izuku scampering around the room as a mouse being chased by Itsuka and Ochako.

"Get back here, Midoriya!"

"Tell us all of it! Spill the tea, Deku-kun!"

Katsuki saw Izuku scurry over to his feet and crawled up his pant leg to hide. Looking up, all Katsuki could see was the two girls lunging his direction.

"There!" was heard throughout the room followed by a resounding thud.

"Where did he go?" Ochako said, frantically looking around.

"Damn, he got away. Hey, are you making popcorn?"

Ochako tilted her head to the side, "No...Why?"

"Well, don't you hear that popping noise?", They both looked down and realize they were sitting on top of Katsuki, who had a look of pure anger on his face.

"Ahhh, that's the popping noise."

"...RUN!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Izuku stretched his arms high in the air, sighing as his spine decompressed from sitting in the car for so long. He and Inko had just driven from their home to UA's campus for Izuku's move into Heights Alliance, the hero school's on-campus dormitory buildings. His mother walked up to his side, followed by Nozomi, who jumped around excitedly at the new environment.

"These dorm buildings are bigger than our entire apartment complex!" Inko yelled as she gawked up at the row of dormitories lined up before them. "You're gonna be okay all on your own, right Izuku?"

Izuku wrapped a comforting arm around his mother's shoulder, "I'll be fine, promise."

Still slightly worried, as any mother sending her child off to boarding school should, Inko looked up at her son with a nervous expression, "You have all the recipes I gave you?"

"Colour-coded and neatly filed in binders."

"Laundry?"

"Wash on cold to make sure nothing shrinks, and wash darks first because I have more of those than lights."

"Oh, I don't know if I'm ready to let you go, Izuku!" Inko buried her face in her son's shoulder, pouting sadly.

Izuku turned his body so that he could properly embrace his wonderful mother, "I know. I'm gonna miss you too, mom."

"Make sure you call me every day to tell me all about everything you do, okay? And you!" Inko pulled away from Izuku and bent down to scratch Nozomi under the chin, "Make sure this little mister doesn't get into too much trouble, okay girl?" Nozomi barked in reply, causing Inko to smile. She stood back up and held her Izuku by the shoulders. "I tell you this all the time, but I'm so proud of you, Izuku. I love you so much, baby. Be good, okay?"

Izuku smiled brightly and pulled his mom into a tight hug, "I will. I love you too, mom. Thank you for always believing in me." The two shared one more smile before Inko got back in her car and drove off, leaving Izuku and his trusty canine companion alone to go about their business.

Adjusting the strap on his backpack, Izuku pulled the information sheet out of his pocket and read it over, "Let's see...Everything got packed in our rooms for us, so all I need to do right now is go to the First Year Student Centre to get my key. Easy enough, let's go." The pair were about to set off before Izuku heard a loud "Deku!" being yelled out. Turning around, he saw Katsuki walking up towards him, backpack slung over his shoulder with one hand with the other dug into his pocket.

"Bout time you showed up, nerd. What took so long?" Katsuki said as he bent down to pet Nozomi, an action that brought great joy to her.

"Not everyone is as excited to move out as you, you know."

"Tch, the old bat and geezer would've kept me there all damn day if I didn't yell at them to hurry the hell up and take me here. Anyway, you got your key and shit yet? Let's go."

Nodding in agreement, Izuku and Nozomi followed Katsuki down the road towards the FYSC to pick up their room keys and orientation package.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

The pair of boys and dog had just reached the First Year Student Centre and were about to go inside when the loud roar of a motor ripped through the air in the direction of the parking lot beside the building. Curious as to what was causing the commotion, the trio walked over to the lot to see a dark red sport bike rolling to a stop.

Katsuki couldn't peel his eyes away from the sight of the obviously female driver park her bike, curves on full display in the skintight motorcycle bodysuit she was wearing. He watched her every move as she cut her engine and put her kickstand down, swinging one of her long legs over the side of the bike, standing up and slowly pulling her jet black helmet off, revealing locks of orange hair tied in a ponytail on the side of her head.

Katsuki's eyes almost bugged out of his head when he saw Kendo turn in their direction and wave. ' _Did I just…'_

Kendo tucked her helmet under her arm and walked up to them, smiling the whole way. "Hey guys!"

Unaware of his best friend's state of shock, Izuku greeted Kendo with a wave, "Hey, Kendo-san. Nice motorcycle. Very cool looking."

"Oh that old thing?" Kendo chuckled, "It was a gift from my parents for getting into UA, it rides like a damn dream. Don't worry though, I got a special permit so I can only drive it on campus. You wanna go for a ride?"

Izuku waved his hands in front of his face, "Nope! No way I'm getting on that thing."

"Suit yourself. Bakugo?"

"Huh?" Snapping out of his trance, Katsuki met eyes with Itsuka, causing him to blush and turn away, "Shut up! I wasn't looking at shit!"

"Uhhh...Okay?"

"Are you alright, Kacchan? You look kinda frazzled."

Katsuki crossed his arms and whipped around so he wasn't facing the two of his friends, "Screw you! Let's go get our fucking keys already!" He shouted, before stomping up the stairs and into the building.

"What was that all about? I know he gets mad all the time, but I don't get what the problem was."

"Your guess is as good as mine, Kendo-san."

Izuku and Itsuka shared a look of confusion before shrugging and following after their spiky-haired companion.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"There you guys are!"

As soon as the trio of teens walked through the door of the building, they caught sight of a brown-haired blur plow into Izuku and pull all of them into a quick hug.

"Oh hey, Uraraka-san. Did you get here long ago?"

"Yeah, I wanted to wait for you guys, though! We can all get our room and homeroom assignments together!" Ochako's boundless enthusiasm was infectious, and brought smiles to both Kendo and Izuku.

Ochako turned and held her arms out, "Nozomi!" Said dog leaped into her arms, knocking her onto her bottom, "I'm happy to see you too!" Ochako managed to squeak out between ticklish giggles at being licked all over her face.

Still upset with himself for his faltering earlier, Katsuki found himself with a shorter temper than usual, "Can we hurry the hell up?! I wanna get to my room and take a fucking nap."

"Party pooper…" Ochako pouted as she got to her feet.

Walking up to the service desk, the quartet of students gave their information and received their respective room assignments.

"What room are you in, Kacchan?" Izuku asked, leaning over to see his friend's information sheet.

"1-A - Room 4-1. I'm right above you, nerd. Heh, like always. My roommate is some guy named Ojiro." Katsuki shrugged.

"Uraraka-san?"

"1-A - Room 3-2. Hurray! We're all in the same class! Oh man, but Itsuka-chan isn't my roommate...Mine is someone named Yaoyorozu Momo. I hope she's nice!"

The three turned to Kendo to find out what room she was in, but were surprised to see her frowning down at her sheet.

"Itsuka-chan?"

"I'm in room 3-4…"

"Then we're neighbours!"

"...In dorm 1-B…"

Izuku and Ochako looked on in concern, "Oh man, this sucks!"

"Yeah, I was hoping that all four of us would be in the same class, Kendo-san. It won't be the same without you."

Itsuka's hands fell limp at her side, "Yeah…"

"Tch." Katsuki stomped up to Itsuka and brushed past her shoulder, "If you're gonna cry about something as dumb as being in a different class, then you got no place being in the fuckin' hero course, fat hands.

"Kacchan!"

"You know I'm right, you fucking nerd! You think someone who mopes around for something like this is gonna be of any use out there in the real fucking world when villains are trying to kill you? And you!" Katsuki shouted, turning to Itsuka once more, "You really gonna let a different fucking homeroom slow you down? What happened to the chick from the entrance exam that was smashing the shit out of robots? You look fucking pathetic. I'm outta here."

Katsuki stormed out of the building, leaving several stunned faces watching him leave.

"Jeez, who pooped in his cereal? What'd he have to be so mean about it for?"

Izuku came up and put a hand on Itsuka's shoulder, "I'm sorry about him, Kendo-san. I'll go talk to him once he cools off a bit."

Itsuka's fists were clenched at her side, "H-He's right, though..Isn't he? How can I call myself a potential hero if I get sad over something like this. I'm really being dumb about it, aren't I? It's not like we're never gonna see each other, we can always hang out after class and stuff. This is nothing!"

"You do have a point there, Kendo-san. Relatively speaking, it really isn't that big of a deal. Sure, it would be nice for all of us to have class together, but like you said we will surely still be able to see each other on a regular basis. I'm sure it'll be just fine. Anyways, we should go to our rooms and get set up. Uraraka-san?"

"Yeah, let's go to our dorm. See you later, Itsuka-chan!" With that, Izuku, Ochako and Nozomi left towards the 1-A dorm, leaving Itsuka alone in the lobby.

"I never would've thought Bakugo cared so much. He definitely needs to work on his phrasing and delivery, but it's nice to know under all that psychotic rage, he at least _tried_ to make me feel better…"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Now, Izuku and Ochako were well aware just how much of a prestigious institution UA was, but they were in no way expecting their dorm building to look so incredible!

The pair stepped into the entryway and were immediately amazed.

"Whoa~! It's so big and fancy!" Ochako shouted.

Izuku was in an equal state of shock, "This is crazy...If this is just the common area, I can't even imagine what our bedrooms are gonna look like."

"Hey you two! Come on in!"

Izuku and Ochako turned to see a pink-skinned girl with bound up to them with a bright smile on her face. Her bright yellow irises shone against the blackness of her sclera, and two pale yellow horns sticking out of her unruly mess of pink hair helped to complete her unique appearance.

"Hi there! I'm Ashido Mina! Are you guys gonna be in class 1-A too?" Izuku was practically blinded by how wide the girl was smiling, and felt a similar sensation with Ochako in that her bubbly personality was almost overwhelming.

"It's nice to meet you, Ashido-san. I'm Midoriya Izuku, and this is Uraraka Ochako."

Said girl waved with an eye-closed smile, "Hello!"

"Woof!"

"Oh I'm sorry," Izuku said, stepping aside to let his dog through, "This is Nozomi."

"AHHH DOGGO!" Mina cooed, instantly crouching down and nuzzling her face against Nozomi's. She wagged her tail happily and ran in circles around the pink-skinned girl, rubbing her side up against her as she went. "Heehee, anyways...Come meet some more of our classmates.

Following Mina, Izuku and Ochako entered the dorm common area, where several other students sitting in small groups chatting amongst themselves. "Come meet the gang!" Mina led them up to a pair of boys, the first with bright yellow hair and a black lightning bolt shaped streak running across one side of it, the second also blonde with a noticeably large tail coming out of his behind. "This is Kaminari and Ojiro. Guys meet Midoriya and Uraraka!"

"Hey, how's it goin'?" Denki said, finger-pistoling the pair.

"Ojiro...Say, Ojiro-kun you wouldn't happen to be in room 4-1, would you?"

He raised an eyebrow, "How did you know that?"

"Ah, so you're Kacchan's roommate. It's nice to meet you." He said with a nod, "You too, Kaminari-kun."

"Yeah, nice to meet ya!" Ochako added.

"So have you met Kacch— I mean have you met Bakugo yet?"

Ojiro chuckled nervously, "Uh, hehe...Yeah...He's something alright…"

"He's an acquired taste, for sure. But believe me when I say he actually cares in his own way, and he wants to be a hero as bad as anybody else."

Ochako nodded in agreement, "Plus, seeing him yell at everything is really funny!"

"Uraraka-chan, over here!" Mina beckoned, sitting next to a group of girls.

Ochako looked to Izuku, who gave her a nod to shoo her towards their new female classmates, before skipping off towards them.

"Here, sit down man." Pulling up a chair next to them, Izuku gladly accepted the invitation. "So," Denki began, giving Izuku a sly grin, "Uraraka is really cute, is she your girlfriend? You two seem really close."

"Oh, no." Izuku replied, "We're really close friends, but that's it. We met on the day of the entrance exam actually." Izuku's face unconsciously lit up with pride, "We took down the 0-pointer at our site together."

"You took down a 0-pointer?!" The trio turned to see a boy with spiky red hair come up to them and sit down, "That's so manly dude! Oh, Kirishima by the way. Nice to meet you guys."

"You really took down a 0-pointer, Midoriya? You must be really strong." Ojiro commented.

Izuku blushed slightly at the praise and attention he was getting, "Hehe...I'm sure anyone could've done it—"

"And then Deku-kun was like 'Smash'! 'Pow'! Boom! And punched the giant robot right in the face!" The boys turned to hear Ochako animatedly recounted the story from the entrance exam, causing her group of girls to peer over at Izuku in curiosity.

"He really did that?" One girl with short purple hair and long flesh-coloured earphone jacks hanging from her earlobes said.

"That's pretty impressive, kero." Another girl with dark green hair and wide eyes added, putting a large index finger on her chin.

Izuku felt a firm clap on his back, "Look at you, dude! Already the hot topic in our class!"

"Excuse me, can you elucidate a bit more about this 0-pointer?" The group turned to the tall and slender girl with her onyx hair tied back in a spiky ponytail.

"You didn't see it? I thought there was one in every battle site?" Ojiro asked. The boys all nodded, agreeing in their confusion.

"Oh, Yaoyorozu-chan was accepted through recommendation, so she took a special exam for those students, kero."

All the boys had amazed looks on their faces, causing Momo to blush nervously, "Whoa, you must be amazing then!" Kaminari exclaimed.

"Yeah, to be chosen for a school like UA through recommendation must mean you gotta be the best of the best." Ojiro nodded in agreement.

"T-Thank you for all your kind words, but that's quite an e-exaggeration." Momo was then startled by Mina, who had jumped on her back and flung her arms over her shoulders.

"C'mon, don't be so modest! You're a recommended student! That automatically makes you badass! Not to mention your quirk sounds incredible!"

At the mention of the word quirk, Izuku's eyes took on an unmistakable twinkle, and before anyone could react, he was standing right before Momo, notebook in hand and an expectant look on his face, "Would you mind telling me about your quirk, Yaoyorozu-san?"

Everyone in the room sweatdropped, and Jiro leaned over to Uraraka, "Is he always like this?"

Chuckling sheepishly, Ochako nodded, "When it comes to learning about quirks and hero stuff like that, Deku-kun is like a kid in a candy store."

Still with a raised eyebrow, Jiro watched Izuku scribbling away madly while several of their new classmates went in depth about the nature of their quirks, "But where was he keeping that notebook? His backpack is in the other room."

Ochako stared at her green-haired pal with narrowed eyes, "I still haven't figured that out."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Izuku's cheeks hurt from smiling so much. He had filled his notes to the brim with information and analysis on many of his new classmates and he had almost immediately gotten along with all of them. "Hmm, so 15 profiles, and eliminating Kacchan, Uraraka, and I from the equation...there are 2 more people I haven't met yet...One of them being Todoroki Shoto...Hmm maybe he will be here tomorrow."

Turning the corner, Izuku fished his key out of his pocket and quickly unlocked the door, swinging it open so that Nozomi could run inside. Izuku followed after her and was immediately floored by how luxurious his room was. "Whoa…It's like a hotel room!"

The room had two single beds separated by a retractable partition across from two connected desks with high-end computers on top of them. Directly to the left of the desk closest to the door was a small kitchenette fitted with a sink and several burners on top of a mini-fridge and cabinet. To the right of the nearest bed was a door that presumably led to the bathroom. "Oh, I guess he's already here" Izuku said to himself, noticing the bag and personal items already on the bed by the screen door leading to the balcony. Izuku placed his things down on his own bed and started unpacking. He opened his closet and begun unloading the boxes that UA had delivered for him. Just as he had finished unpacking his things, he heard the door open and turned to see a boy with a large burn mark on the left side of his face, partly covered by his ear length half-white/half-red hair.

"Oh, you must be Todoroki-kun. I'm Midoriya Izuku, nice to meet you." Izuku said, extending out a friendly hand. Shoto stared at him for a few moments, before slowly returning the shake, keeping the same monotone expression he wore from the moment he walked in the room. "I completely forgot, this is my dog Nozomi. I hope you don't mind dogs."

"It makes no difference to me." Shoto coldy replied, walking over to his own bed and going through his things.

"Alright...Well since we are going to be roommates, I hope we can get along and become friends."

"Not interested."

"W-What do you mean?"

"I'm not here to make friends. You or anyone else are wasting your time if that is you goal" Shoto replied, not even looking up from what he was doing, "I'm here to be the best, and nothing else, so save your breath."

"O...kay...Whatever man." Izuku collected his toiletries and went into the washroom to clean himself up for the night.

Splashing some water in his face, Izuku stared thoughtfully into his reflection, "What an asshole. *Sigh* Well I guess there's no use worrying over it, there's more important things to think about." Izuku nodded resolutely to himself, "Tomorrow is where the real journey begins."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

*Knock knock knock*

*Knock knock knock*

"I'm comin' I'm comin'." Hurriedly running to the door, Izuku opened it to reveal Katsuki and Ochako standing there, the former with an annoyed scowl and the latter with a bright smile.

"Mornin' Deku-kun!" Ochako waved, "We thought it would be nice to wait for you so we could go to class together! Grumpy McMeanie over here didn't wanna wait, but he came anyway when I said I was gonna wait for you." She laughed.

"Screw you, round-face!" Bakugo yelled, "Deku, are you an idiot? The fuck is wrong with your tie?" Bakugo yanked on the stubby piece of fabric tied, causing Izuku to stumble forward.

"Listen, it's hard to tie a tie, okay? And why are you talking, you aren't even wearing a tie!"

All three of them looked to Katsuki's loose colour and evident lack of tie, causing the ash-blonde to kiss his teeth and spin around.

"Fuck you, just hurry up and come downstairs, I'm not gonna be late on the first day because of your dumb ass."

"Here," Ochako said, nimbly untying Izuku's monstrosity and retying it so that it looked properly. She straightened his collar and brushed his jacket down straight, "There we go! So what do you think is gonna happen at orientation today?"

Izuku tapped his chin thoughtfully, "Hmm, I'm not sure. If it's anything like regular orientations, the principal will give a long speech about the school and stuff, then we will meet upperclassman who take us on tours and things like that. But this is UA, I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to expect.

"Hmm, good point. Welp, only one way to find out! Now let's hurry and catch up to Bakugo-kun!"

Izuku grabbed his bag off of his bed and dashed out the door after his friends, "Bye, Nozomi! Wait, Uraraka-san! I need breakfast! BREAKFAST!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Okay, 1-A...1-A...Aha! Here it is."

Izuku and Ochako finally came upon their homeroom classroom, staring up at the enormous red door.

"Whoa it's huge!"

"It must be to accommodate students who are larger because of their quirks. Well anyway, are you ready to go in, Uraraka-san?"

Scrunching up her face in determination, Ochako nodded, "Let's do it!"

"Okay, here we go," Izuku grabbed the handle and slowly slid the door to the classroom open.

"You better get the fuck outta my face, four-eyes!"

"I find your vulgar language to be incredibly deplorable! Not to mention your hooliganish behaviour of putting your feet up onto your desk is extremely disrespectful to the honour of our upperclassman who have been here before us!"

Izuku and Ochako had walked into quite the scene, seeing Katsuki and the tall blue-haired boy from the exam right in each other's faces having a screaming match, while several other students were in their seats watching uncomfortably/disapprovingly.

"Whoa whoa whoa, take it easy," Izuku instantly got between the two and got Katsuki to take a few steps back, "What the hell's going on here?"

"This fuck is getting on my goddamn nerves!"

"You're the one from the entrance exam who defeated the 0-pointer! My name is Iida Tenya, from Soumei Academy,"

"No wonder you're such a douchebag, you damn elite!"

Ignoring Katsuki's outburst, Iida pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "Midoriya Izuku, correct? You clearly saw the true purpose of the exam and earned your high ranking, you are a much better student than I!" He said, bowing a perfect 90 degrees.

The entire class sweatdropped, "Uhh, okay?" Izuku said, mostly confused by what was happening.

"Furthermore, I must apologize to you for my words on that day as well. I clearly overstepped and jumped to a conclusion when I said that you two were unfocused and unfit for this program. I hope that you will be able to forgive me. And, ahem, despite some _eccentricities_ that I do not entirely agree with, I can easily see the skill set you both possess."

Giving it a second of thought, Izuku smiled at Iida, "You know what, apology accepted. How can I call myself a hero in training if I can't let go of petty grudges and let bygones be bygones. Right, Kacchan?" Izuku gave Katsuki a look, causing him to scoff.

"Whatever."

"Great," Izuku turned to the rest of his classmates, who were all looking at him after such a display, "Sorry about the disruption."

"If you're done with your little show, we can get started."

Everyone turned to the door to see a scruffy male face poking out of some sort of yellow sleeping bag.

"Ahh what the hell is that?!"

"It's talking!"

A zipper went down, allowing the man to step out of his bag, revealing a ragged black outfit paired with a dark grey scarf around his neck. "You kids really need to get some more sense before you can think of calling yourselves worthy of being UA students." His intimidating gaze somehow shone through his tired looking eyes as he scanned the room. "Time is precious. Rational students would understand that and be in their seats and ready before I even showed up here. Well in any case, welcome to UA. I am Aizawa Shota, your homeroom teacher."

' _HOMEROOM TEACHER?!'_ was the collective thought among the class.

Aizawa reached into his sleeping bag and pulled out a blue, white and red tracksuit, "Well, let's get right to it. Put these on and head outside. Ah but first," Reaching into his sleeping bag again, he pulled out sort of pouch and sucked out the contents in one fell swoop. The entire class sat in awkward silence as Aizawa smacked his lips repeatedly after finishing whatever drink he had just ingested. "Alright let's go."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

The entirety of Class 1-A patiently stood out in the field behind the main school building in their UA gym uniforms, anxiously waiting to see what their homeroom teacher had in store for them.

"Okay, now that we are all here and changed, we can get started. For today, what is going to happen is I am going to put all 20 of you through a quirk assessment test."

"A quirk assessment test?!" Everyone shouted.

"But wait, what about orientation Sensei?" Ochako asked.

"One of the perks of being a teacher at UA is that I have free reign as to how my class in conducted. If you're gonna be at the top hero school in the country, you don't have time for frivolous things like orientation ceremonies. You've been taking standardized test for the majority of your lives, but I see no rationality behind ignoring the cultivation and testing of quirks in the superhuman society that we live in." He turned to Katsuki, "Bakugo, you got the highest score on the entrance exam, so we'll use you as a demonstration." He pulled out a rubber ball and handed it to the teen, "Take this and stand in the circle over there."

Obliging, Katsuki took the ball from Aizawa and stood in the circle to await further instruction. "How far could you throw in middle school?"

"Like, 75 metres?"

Nodding to himself, Aizawa pulled a phone out of his pocket, "Okay, throw the ball using whatever means you wish, as long as don't leave the circle. That includes use of your quirk. Whenever you're ready."

Katsuki immediately smiled ferociously and stared at the ball in his hand. Winding up, he flung the ball forward as hard as he could, letting off an explosion from his palm just before the ball left his hands, "Eat shit, rubber fuck!"

The ball rocketed out of Katsuki's hand, leaving rings of smoke in the air as the trail of heat behind it propelled it forward. The disappeared into the distance, the only signal of it landing being the ping that sounded off on Aizawa's phone. "Everyone need to know the upper threshold of their capabilities," He turned his phone screen towards the class, revealing Katsuki's score to be 841.7 metres. "It's the most reasonable way to see where you stand in becoming pro heroes."

"Whoa, are you kidding me? 841 metres?!" Kaminari said, utterly shocked. (Hehe, shocked.)

"This looks like it'll be so much fun!" Mina exclaimed, bouncing from side to side excitedly.

"Fun, eh?" Everyone turned to Aizawa, who had a dark expression on his face. "So you're here to have fun and slack off, huh? Today, you're competing in 8 physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last place will be deemed hopeless and kicked out of UA for good, got it?" The looks of shock and horror among the class brought a sadistic grin to Aizawa's face, "I already told you that I can run my class however I want. So if you don't want to be expelled, well then don't come in last." The words of challenge brought varying reactions from the students, "Well then...Let's get started."


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey everyone! Listen...I know it has been a long ass time, and I'm sorry! With work, personal stuff, and projects I've been working on, I've been so busy. But I am really really trying to make up for it, promise!**

 **In other news, I have been working on some other things, including a bunch of ideas for one-shots and crossover arcs that wil be outside of the main plot of Beast Mode, and I was wondering if you guys would prefer for them to be uploaded here or put into a separate story. I'll put a poll up and you guys can vote there.**

 **poll/polls_tab_ ?pollid=504987**

 **Other than that…**

 **How are ya? I'm well. It's finally getting warmer where I live, so that's cool. Started reading Domestic Na Kanojo. Would highly recommend!**

 **Anyways, enjoy and see ya next time!**

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

8 events. 20 competitors.

First place sent a message to those around them that they were here at UA for a reason, that their quirks had the capabilities that pros look for in potential hero candidates. Last place...Well according to Aizawa Sensei...That meant the end of the line at UA and a one-way ticket home.

Izuku wasn't particularly worried. He never really liked bragging about his skills or anything like that, he much preferred to fly under the radar and go about his business without bringing too much attention to himself. But that didn't mean he knew what he was capable of, and he was definitely confident in his chances to do fairly well in the assessment.

"Okay, first we have the 50 metre-dash. First two students, step up to the starting line." Izuku wondered if Aizawa always sounded this dead. When was the last time he got a good night's sleep? Somehow he found it hard to believe that Aizawa Sensei would be very much of a motivating type of teacher.

Asui, the frog-looking girl and Iida stepped up to the starting line, preparing for the signal to go. As soon as the starting horn sounded, Iida pushed off his front foot and zoomed down the track, leaving a trail of dust in his wake. He skidded to a stop and turned to see his time.

"3.04 seconds. Hmm, as I thought. 50 metres is not quite a long enough distance for me to shift into third gear.

Izuku looked closely and saw several metallic looking cylinders sticking out of the back of Iida's calves, slightly smoking from the bespectacled student's run. "Ah, so his quirk is some sort of motor in his calves that power his legs. So he's a speed-based hero."

"You must be shitting yourself with all these fucking quirks to mutter your egghead off about, nerd." Izuku turned to Katsuki, who was stood beside him staring at Asui, who had froggy-hopped down the track, earning her a decent time of 5.58 seconds. "Both of their quirks revolve around their legs."

"Hmm, Iida-kun's quirk definitely does. But I took plenty of notes on Asui-san's quirk based on what she told me yesterday. She has many other frog-like qualities besides her appearance, mannerisms, and leg strength. As an animal-user myself, I was really interested to get some insights from her. In fact…"

Katsuki felt a vein forming on his forehead and he smacked Izuku upside the head, "Will you shut up?! Are you gonna do that every fucking time anyone brings up anything that has to do with anyone's quirk?"

Rubbing the sore spot on his head, Izuku smiled apologetically, "Sorry, I'll hold it in."

"Next two. We don't have all day, you know."

Sato and Yaoyorozu were up next to run, and as they made their way to their starting position, Izuku found himself staring at the dark-haired girl in curiosity. "From what she told me yesterday, she can create any non-living material as long as she knows it's molecular structure. I wonder what she's going to make for this particular test, because the possibilities are endless."

As the two lined up to run, Momo reached into her shirt and a faint glow appeared on the exposed part of her body. She pulled her hand out and was now holding what looked to be some sort of grappling hook gun.

As soon as the signal went off, Sato bounded down the track as fast as his burly form could allow him, clearly not built for speed or agility with his muscled physique. Next to him, Momo fired the grappling gun, the hook looping around a tree branch ahead of the finish line. She clicked the trigger on the gun once more, causing the rope to retract and yanked her forward across the finish line at breakneck speed.

"Yaoyorozu, 3.66 seconds. Sato, 7.14 seconds."

Most of the class was in awe of Momo's quirk in action, but the girl kept a game face on, seemingly not wanting to be distracted from getting the best results.

"A grappling gun, huh? How creative! I never would've even thought of something like that, I would have probably tried to make some sort of transportation like rollerblades or something. And based on how her quirk works, she is much more efficient in her energy consumption than many would be. That's really impressive..."

At this point, most of the class had noticed and begun listening to Izuku's incessant rambling. "Uh, I think Midoriya is broken again like yesterday." Kaminari said with a weak chuckle.

"Deku-kun always gets like this when it comes to quirks. You should've seen him when we first met!" Ochako laughed, "It took Bakugo-kun threatening to blow his action figures up for him to stop!"

"Uraraka-san!" Izuku whined, gaining several bouts of laughter from his classmates.

"Well, it looks like I'm up." Ochako said as she and Ojiro stepped up to the starting line.

After watching an impressive display of Ojiro's tail-powered propulsion forwards and Ochako's interesting strategy of lifting the weight off of her clothes, somehow not taking into account the odd drag that would affect her running, it came to Izuku and Katsuki's turn to run.

"Try not to eat too much dust getting blazed by me, nerd." Katsuki jabbed as he bent down at the starting line.

"I'll try my best, Kacchan." Izuku replied. ' _Alright, 50 metres isn't far enough to hit top speed, but it should be fine. Kacchan is gonna be suspicious as hell if I use OFA on top of animorph, but...I'm supposed to be here to be the best hero I can be. Can I really call myself worthy if I don't give it my all like everyone else?'_

From behind the school building, All Might peered around the corner at the quirk assessment test in progress, staring intently a his ward. He watched the varying emotions washing over Izuku's face as he prepared to take his sprint and immediately knew what he was thinking.

"The weight of a hero's decision, no matter how seemingly small, can become incredibly cumbersome depending on the consequences. Young Midoriya, we have agreed for you not not speak of One For All, but when and how you decide to use it is entirely within your discretion. You must deal with the power you possess responsibly and use it to the best of your ability to be a hero, no matter what anyone around you thinks about it." Watching the look of fierce determination spring onto Izuku's face, the skeletal man couldn't help but smile, "I see. I respect your decision, my boy."

Back on the field, Izuku cracked his neck and crouched down next to Katsuki. He couldn't help but slightly smirk before he activated OFA, causing green sparks to shoot off of his person, before he transformed into a dark green cheetah, bent down low to the ground waiting to start his run.

"Whoa...So that's Midoriya's quirk, huh? Transformation quirks aren't all that common, glad to know I'm not alone!" Kirishima said, pumping his fist in the air.

"So he can transform into a cheetah. A versatile quirk, indeed." Tokoyami added.

"Actually, I saw him transform into a panther, an elephant, and a gorilla in the entrance exam. It seems as though Midoriya-kun can transform into many different animals." Iida pushed his glasses up, ' _Not to mention that incredible strength he possesses.'_

"Are you both ready?" Receiving nods from both boys, Aizawa readied his timer.

The moment the siren went off, Bakugo let a series of explosions from his backwards facing palms, propelling him down the track. "Blast Rush Turbo! Eat shit, nerd! Huh?" Katsuki saw a glowing green blur zoom by him out of the corner of his eye.

Everyone's jaw dropped when they saw Izuku slide to a stop and transform back to human form at the end of the track. Bakugo finished moments later, eyes still wide in disbelief at Izuku's insane display of speed.

"Bakugo, 4.01 seconds. Midoriya…" Aizawa slowly turned the phone screen to the rest of the class with a bewildered expression, "1.33 seconds…"

"WHAAAT?!" Was the collective scream from the rest of Class 1-A.

"Midoriya ran 50 metres in less than 2 seconds! Not even real cheetahs can run that fast! He was going like 135 kph!" (About 84 or so mph)

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Hehe...I had the same problem that Iida-kun did. 50 metres isn't a lot of distance to be able to fully accelerate."

"You're saying that _wasn't_ the fastest you can go?!" Hagakure yelled, waving her arms frantically.

"Look at the ground!" Everyone looked to where Mineta was pointing to see deep divots in the dirt where Izuku stepped during his sprint. "He broke the track! Wahhhh, these guys are too scary!" The poor purple-headed boy shrieked, clutching himself in fear. "At least Yaoyorozu looked hot doing her crazy run!"

Completely ignoring Mineta's last remark, except for Aizawa, who gave the small boy a glare that made his bladder screech, the entirety of Class 1-A turned their attention to the student that had almost quite literally blown them away with his show of athleticism.

"Deku…" A chill ran down everyone's spine as Katsuki stalked towards Izuku with a demonic aura surrounding him, "What the hell was that?"

A few beads of sweat rolled down the greenette's face. Izuku gulped the lump forming in his throat, "That was my quirk, Kacchan." He felt bad for hiding things from his best friend, but he promised All Might to keep OFA as secret as possible. And he _technically_ wasn't lying, it _was_ his quirk.

"You know that's not what I meant." Katsuki narrowed his eyes at Izuku and was about to get up in his face, but a series of bandages suddenly wrapped around his wrists and torso.

"That's enough you two. Wasting time on useless conversation is highly irrational." He eyed the explosive teen, "You'd do well to keep yourself in control, Bakugo."

Considering trying to resist for a moment, Katsuki scoffed and let his arms go limp so that Aizawa would take the restraints off of him. "Whatever." He crossed his arms and turned on his heel to go back to where the rest of the class was standing, "We're talking about this later."

Izuku pursed his lips nervously as Katsuki walked off, not even paying an inkling of attention to the praise and words of awe from his other classmates. ' _That look Kacchan had in his eyes...What was that…'_

"Midoriya!" He was shaken by his sensei gruffly calling out to him, "Hurry up and get a move on. Like I said, we don't have all day."

"Oh, sorry!" Izuku said before running after the rest of the class to the next event.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

As the rest of the events went on, the gap in results among the students became more and more apparent. For almost every single event, Izuku or Momo were in first with the other narrowly behind, while Katsuki and Shoto rode near the top the entire day as well. There were of course the rare wild card scores, such a Mineta using his purple balls to bounce back and forth 290 times in the repeated side steps or Shoji using his many arms to to achieve 540 kg of force on the grip strength test.

Finally, it came to the final event of the day, the ball throw. Katsuki was exempt from this test, considering that he had already done it in the demonstration at the beginning, so he was resigned to fuming off to the side at the fact that he hadn't come in first _or_ second in a single event. He wasn't sure what he was more mad about, the fact that he wasn't doing as well as he wanted to, the fact that Deku was _definitely_ hiding something, or the fact that both of them were losing half the time to the ponytail bitch with the stripper titties.

Katsuki wasn't the only one that wasn't in the cheeriest of states either. Shoto's icy glare found its way to Izuku's and Momo's backs on several occasions throughout the day, definitely upset that he wasn't standing at the top of the leaderboards. He found solace in the fact, however, that when it came to actual hero work and combat, he was confident that he had no equals in the class.

Izuku tapped his chin thoughtfully as the rest of the students went up to the ball throw one by one. "Hmm, I have come in first in 3 of the events so far, and Yaoyorozu-san has come in first in 2 of the events so far, so my lead is safe as long as she doesn't come in first in the ball throw. More importantly, the last place spot is a toss-up between Mineta-kun and Hagakure-san...Neither of them have quirks that will help them in this last event, so there's really no telling who will come in last…" His muttering was halted when he heard several amazed yells from his classmates.

"Whoa! The ball disappeared into the sky like it was about to say 'We're blasting off again!'. When the hell is it gonna land?"

*BOOP* Aizawa turned the screen to his students, showing an infinity symbol, "Never, apparently."

"INFINITY?! HOW DID SHE GET INFINITY?!"

"Nice one, Uraraka! No one can top that score!"

Ochako scratched the back of her head and chuckled sheepishly, "Hehe, thanks…"

"FIRST PLACE!" Izuku threw his fist in the air, but quickly realized his outburst and coughed into his hand, "Uh, I mean...Good job, Uraraka-san." he said to his brown-haired friend.

"Midoriya, you're next. Just because you secured first place today doesn't mean you can slack off on this attempt." Aizawa's eyes glowed dangerously as his hair floated around him, "If I think you are giving anything less than your all, there will be _severe_ consequences."

Izuku shivered slightly and nodded, "Hai, Sensei!" he replied before stepping into the circle for his throw. Staring at the ball for a few moments, Izuku mulled over how he was going to go about his throw.

"Any day now, Midoriya."

Nodding to himself, Izuku shocked the entirety of the class by lobbing his ball straight up into the air and turning his back to the direction he was supposed to be throwing.

"What the...What is Midoriya doing?" Kaminari asked as his eyes followed the ball high into the air.

"Tch, just shut up and watch, blondie! Deku wouldn't do dumb shit like that for no reason." Katsuki crossed his arms and watched with the rest of the class to see Izuku's throw.

Izuku rolled his shoulders casually and suddenly gave a smirk to the rest of his class, surprising them slightly. As the ball made its way down, Izuku transformed into a green and black zebra and compressed his hind legs into his body like a glorified spring.

"I see!" Iida said, slamming a fist into his open palm. "Zebras have some of the most powerful strikes in the entire animal kingdom! An innovative approach to this test, to be sure, considering the sheer number of options that Midoriya-kun has at his disposal."

"Are zebras really that strong?" Ashido pondered, "Aren't they just sort of like mini-horses?"

"Not quite, Ashido-san." Momo butted in, "It is a common misconception that zebras are simply defenceless animals of prey that live in fear of predators like lions or crocodiles. If provoked, it is entirely feasible that a full-grown zebra could defend itself from more than one lion at a time. There have even been recorded cases of zebras decapitating lions with their powerful kicks."

Everyone's eyes widened at that. "And you fuckers already saw from the other events that Deku's animal forms are more powerful than the animals are naturally. Look for yourselves if you don't believe me." Bakugo pointed a finger at the greenette in the throwing circle.

Zebra-zuku began crackling with the familiar green sparks that everyone had come to see multiple times throughout the day. ' _I inherited One For All proudly and I have the responsibility to use it as a part of who I am...And who I am is someone who always gives his all!'_

The ball dropped right at level with his hind legs and with precise timing, Izuku fired his hind legs out, smashing into the ball with a resounding CRACK. The poor sphere was rocketed out of sight, the only evidence of its existence being the trails of smoke following its path and the shrill whistling of it hurtling through the air.

Dropping her arm that was put up to protect her eyes from the wind that picked up due to Izuku's kick, Ochako look on in amazement at her friend's incredible feat. "Way to go, Deku-kun! You crushed it!" Several of her classmates could only nod dumbly at Ochako's fairly apt description of what had just occurred.

The pregnant pause that befell everyone was finally lifted after the distance recorder finally pinged to notify that the ball had landed. "1734.2 metres"

"HUH?!"

After the number of times it had happened over the course of the day, regarding Midoriya in particular, one would think that most of the class would be desensitized and not yell in shock at whatever result the green-haired teen got, but alas, today would not be the case.

Izuku could swear that his ears would be permanently damaged by the end of the day. ' _Jiro-san must be in hell if I'm complaining…'_

"1700 metres…" Kaminari, Sero and Mineta all muttered with terrified smiles on their faces, holding themselves and rocking back and forth.

"Ahem, well that concludes the quirk assessment test. Here are the results. " Aizawa pressed a few buttons on his phone in rapid succession, resulting in a large projection to appear with the rankings on the test, "These are the overall rankings that tallied up your total scores based on where you placed in each event."

 **Midoriya Izuku**

 **Yaoyorozu Momo**

 **Todoroki Shoto**

 **Bakugo Katsuki**

 **Iida Tenya**

 **20\. Hagakure Toru**

Several students sighed in relief when they saw that their name was not at the bottom of the rankings, but no one could help but feel bad for the floating gym uniform trembling with tears before them.

"Hagakure Toru," Aizawa turned to the girl, who was sniffling profusely, "You ranked last overall. I'm sure that you recall at the beginning I said what would happen to whomever came in last place in today's test, yes?"

He received what...looked like a nod? The only real indicator he got was the slight bend in the collar of the floating top.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Toru wiped a few falling tears from her face, "W-Well...I'm sad that I couldn't do better…*sniff* My quirk didn't really help me in any of the events, but I really tried my hardest! So...At least I can leave knowing in my heart that I did everything I could today!"

Everyone was visibly impressed by Toru's maturity, which contrasted greatly to her cutesy personality, and couldn't help but smile at the girl's resolve.

Aizawa crossed his arms over his chest, "I see. Well then I suppose that's that. Now...Please pick up the syllabi over there before you go, I will see you all 20 of you first thing tomorrow. Dismissed."

Everyone stood shocked as Aizawa slowly trudged away with his hands dug into his pockets. The scruffy man paused in places and turned to his class, "Oh by the way, I was lying about expelling whoever came in last place today. I just said that so everyone would try their hardest." Ignoring the gasps and cries of dismay, Aizawa scratched his messy mop of hair and yawned, "I find it highly irrational to expel someone if they have no control over if their quirk provides them with specific physical enhancements that will help them succeed. I can tell that you, Hagakure, made the most of what you were given today. As far as I am concerned, that shows you have potential. Don't get comfortable though. You could have trained your body more so that your base athleticism was at a much higher level. Never settle, never waver. That is what UA's motto of 'Plus Ultra' embodies. Good day." With that, Aizawa walked off.

Hagakure's knees finally gave way, and she collapsed onto the floor clutching her chest, "I can't believe it…" Several students came to comfort her and congratulate her for being able to stay at UA, causing Momo to sigh wearily.

"I had a feeling that Aizawa Sensei was deceiving us when he said he would expel someone today. It was fairly obvious if you all think about it. Why would UA waste time and resources to move us into their dorm facilities and such if there was a possibility that we would be dismissed as soon as school started. I'm surprised the rest of you didn't figure it out for yourselves. I suppose I should've said something…" She sweatdropped at the looks of dismay washing over her classmates' faces.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Yaoyorozu-san." Izuku got the attention of the dark-haired teen along with the rest of the class, "Remember when Sensei said every teacher has absolute free reign over their classes? I feel like he could have easily dismissed anyone that he saw was not worth teaching." Izuku recalled an off-hand conversation he had with Midnight during a break in his training, but made sure not to mention where he heard it from, "I heard a rumour that last year Aizawa expelled his entire first year class because he deemed them as 'hopeless' on the first day."

Momo gasped and held a hand to her mouth, "I-I see...Well I will keep your words in mind, thank you." Izuku gave her a thumbs up as everyone grabbed their syllabi and begun making their way to the locker rooms. ' _Midoriya Izuku...He blew everyone out of the water today, myself included. He seems like quite the formidable one, to be sure.'_

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Aizawa-kun! Wait up a moment!"

Aizawa stopped in his tracks and his shoulders drooped slightly. He let out a long sigh and lazily turned around. "So you _were_ watching, All Might. Any particular reason as to why?"

The burly man shrugged his shoulders, "Is it too hard to believe that I wanted to get a good look as to how capable our students are? I am new to this teaching thing after all, so Nezu thought it would be a good idea for me to be as prepared as possible."

Aizawa internally debated whether it was worth it to pick up on the very obvious fact that All Might was hiding something, if his nervous hand-trembling and avoidance of eye-contact was anything to go off of. Who knew the 'Symbol of Peace' was such a terrible liar. "Well…? I don't have time to waste with standing around, you know."

"Ah, yes of course. I was just curious is all about what you said to the students. I read in your file that last year you had no problems with expelling an entire class because they were not deemed any good, so what made you decide to take such a light-hearted approach today?"

Aizawa rolled his eyes and sighed, "As rough around the edges as all of those kids are, not one of them has 0 potential, that's as clear as day. If there was any indication in my mind that any of them were unworthy of being here, I would have sent them packing as soon as the opportunity presented itself. It's cruel to let a kid keep dreaming of something that will never come true, after all. From top to bottom, everyone in this class has potential to be something, but everyone in this class also still has miles to go before they can call themselves respectable. If that's it, then I have things to do."

All Might stared at his colleague as he walked off, finger tapping on his chin thoughtfully, "Despite the way you carry yourself, you show kindness in your own odd way, Aizawa. Here's hoping he stops giving the students near heart-attacks at least…"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

The first official day of class at UA did not go _exactly_ as Class 1-A thought it would.

For a world-renowned institute that pushed out notorious heroes like All Might and Endeavour, most thought it would be a whole lot less...Well, boring.

Coming in with the expectation of cool stuff like large-scale combat training or rescue scenarios, but instead coming face to face with algebraic expressions and sonnet writing, it was hard to not feel a little underwhelmed.

Izuku was trying his best to pay attention as Cementoss introduced his first lesson in _The Catcher in the Rye_ , but his mind wandered all over the place. In his defence, a lot had happened yesterday.

[Flashback]

" _Deku, tell me how you got so strong!"_

 _Immediately after everyone had changed and gone back to the dorms, Katsuki had cornered Izuku and wasted no time in picking up on their conversation that was stopped by Aizawa earlier._

 _Katsuki's face was inches away from Izuku's as the former held the latter firmly by the collar of his shirt, burning red eyes piercing into deep green._

" _Kacchan...I...I told you, didn't I? That personal hell training I went through on my own, it was for me to grow and get stronger as an individual. Why are you getting so mad at me?"_

 _Katsuki grit his teeth and felt his knuckles going numb from gripping onto Izuku's shirt so hard, "What the hell kinda training did you do in ten fucking months to do so much better than me, huh?!"_

" _You did better than me on the entrance exam, didn't you?" This caused Katsuki to loosen his grip slightly, "I'm not gonna sit around and just live in your shadow, Kacchan. There's people out there better than you at some things, just like there's things you're good at. What happened to all that talk growing up that we were partners? You expect me to be able to face you if I can't stand on my own two legs first, Kacchan? I want to tell you everything, I do! But...I can't yet…"_

" _The fuck do you mean, 'you can't'?"_

 _Izuku clenched his fists together and his eyes screwed tightly. "I made a promise." Hiding things from Katsuki was a lot harder than Izuku thought it would be._

" _You made a promise…"Katsuki released Izuku and turned around, "You don't wanna tell me yet? Fine. Fuck you too. Keep your shitty secrets, but don't think this is over. I'm gonna show you, that ponytail bitch, that neapolitan ice-cream looking fuck, and anyone else who wants a piece of me. I'm just getting started, you hear me?"_

[Flashback End]

' _Kacchan has been uncharacteristically calm since yesterday...He hasn't yelled at anyone today or anything.'_ Izuku couldn't help but stare at his best friend's back right in front of him before a piece of chalk impacted him square in the forehead.

"Is there a particular reason you seem to be spacing out, Midoriya?" Cementoss called across the room.

"U-Uh no, Sensei! Sorry!" Izuku bowed his head with a blush, earning a few giggles from his classmates around him.

"Just make sure it doesn't happen again. Anyways, I may as well end my lesson there. Please make sure to read up to chapter 3 for next class. Good day."

As everyone packed their things and prepared for next period, Sero leaned over to Midoriya's desk, "Hey man, you alright? You looked even more spaced out than yesterday, except you weren't muttering this time?"

"Oh he was," Jiro interjected, earlobe jacks hovering behind her head, "He was just doing it really quietly. _I_ could barely hear him.

Izuku blushed and scratched the back of his head, "Hehe, whoops. My bad. And I'm fine, Sero-kun, no need to worry. Just wondering what's gonna happen today, is all."

"Yeah, I'm kinda worried. I mean, yesterday wasn't even technically the first day and someone almost got expelled!"

Mineta leaned over his desk, nodding his head vigorously, "Yeah! I was so scared that I was gonna get kicked outta here! Aizawa is a psycho!"

Getting back to putting his books away, Izuku's ears picked up on something that sounded like rapid tapping against the floor, and it was getting louder.

"You hear it too, Midoriya?" Jiro said to the boy, leaning back in her chair so she could look at him. He nodded to her and they both looked towards the door. At this point, everyone had stopped talking and were wondering what the sound was.

" **I AM…** "

The back door of the classroom suddenly burst open, revealing All Might hanging from the doorframe in his red and white Silver Age costume.

" **HERE READY TO GREET YOU LIKE A HERO! Huh…** "

' _He came through the wrong door!'_ Everyone deadpanned, but they quickly grew excited to see the Number 1 Hero in their class.

All Might proudly strode into the room amongst the murmurs of amazement until he reached the podium at the front of the class. " **Welcome, young students, to UA High's most important class, Hero Basic Training! In this class, you will learn the basics of what it takes to be a pro and what it means to fight in the name of JUSTICE AND PEACE! Today's lesson...BATTLE TRAINING!** "

The class erupted in cheers of excitement at getting to let loose in fight training, but Izuku was slightly worried at how collected Katsuki seemed to be.

"Kacch—"

"You better be ready, nerd. Today I'm gonna show everyone just what I'm capable of." Katsuki said, not even turning around to look at Izuku. Before Izuku could say anything else, All Might hit a switch and several panels opened up from the wall.

" **And all great heroes know that you gotta LOOK GOOD!** **Get yourselves suited up and meet me at Training Ground Beta! Everyone ready?** "

"YES SIR!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

" **They say that clothes make the pros...And you're all looking great!** " All Might shouted, giving his students a thumbs-up.

As the seasoned veteran eyed his students in their newly minted costumes, he felt excitement welling up within him, " **This is getting me all amped up, students! You look so 'Lit'!**

"Oh no, All Might. Please no." Kaminari groaned with his head in his hands.

" **What? Present Mic gave me pointers on how to be young and hip! I am a teacher who is 'with it' as you kids say!** "

The collective groan was ignored by the in-denial adult as he noticed that a certain greenette was missing from the lineup. " **Where is Young Midoriya?** "

"Sorry for keeping you waiting, everyone!" The class turned to the tunnel to see Izuku jogging up to them with a wave, "I was making sure everything fit properly and didn't restrict my mobility."

Izuku wore a skin-tight dark green bodysuit with black trim, and a large design of blood gashes on his chest resembling claw marks. He accessorized with a silver belt, black gloves, and his signature red boots on his feet. On his neck was a respirator with tiger-like fangs on it, which Izuku locked onto his face with a click.

"Wow, Deku-kun! You look really cool!" Ochako said, "I guess I'm not the only one who ended up with a skin-tight suit, huh? Your muscles are totally showing!" She chuckled, pointing to both of their costumes that left little to the imagination.

"I love this school…" Hagakure and Mineta both muttered, completely ignored by the rest of their class.

" **Now that everyone is here and ready, we can begin our combat training!** **Now your entrance exam took place in a large area in a free-for-all type format, but realistically, most of the fiends you will apprehend will be indoors. So today, you'll be split into pairs of heroes and villains to fight 2-on-2 battles indoors! The name of the game? Hostage scenario!** "

"Isn't this a little too advanced for our first lesson, kero?" Asui pondered.

" **Nonsense! The best kind of knowledge is gained on the battlefield!Now—** "

"What will be the criteria for victory?"

"How are we going to be paired up? Based on skill? Compatibility?"

"How badly can I beat the shit out of the other people?"

"Isn't my cape just the most fabulous thing you've ever laid your eyes on?"

"Can I go to the bathroom?"

" **Please! Hold on to your questions until I've finished explaining!** " All Might whined, " **Listen up! The two villains will keep the hostage somewhere in their hideout and it is up to the heroes to foil their plans by rescuing the hostage and bringing them to safety! Heroes and Villains are eliminated by being captured with this special binding tape! The Heroes win once they bring the hostage safely out of the building, but lose if they are captured, run out of time, or jeopardize the safety of the hostage in any way. Understand?** "

"Wow, the heroes have a huge disadvantage here. They only have 1 way to win AND have a lot more to worry about."

" **That's almost always the case, Young Ashido! As heroes, we must face plenty of adversity and find a way to persevere with our heads held high!** **Now, let's draw lots to see what the teams will be!** "

 **Team A: Kaminari and Sato** **(Heroes) VS Team B: Hagakure and Ojiro (Villians)**

 **Team C: Midoriya and Jiro (Heroes) VS Team H: Yaoyorozu and Kirishima (Villains)**

 **Team D: Todoroki and Shoji (Heroes) VS Team E: Tokoyami and Koda (Villains)**

 **Team F: Ashido and Asui (Heroes) VS Team I: Uraraka and Aoyoma (Villains)**

 **Team J: Bakugo and Sero (Heroes) VS Team G: Iida and Mineta (Villains)**

" **Okay, now that the teams and matchups are set, here is your hostage!** " All Might pointed towards the tunnel, where a scantily clad woman sauntered in with a sensual smirk on her face.

"It's the R-Rated Hero, Midnight!" Kaminari shouted, wearing a blush that most of the class was matching.

"I LOVE THIS SCHOOL!" Mineta shouted, pumping his little fist in the air, "LET'S DO THIS!"

"Hello all! Oh, seeing you in your hero costumes...In the prime of your youth! Mmmm~! I can't help but get excited! Remember now, I am a hostage, so that means neither party can jeopardize my safety, okay?"

" **Alright, Team A and Team B, you have 10 minutes to prepare. Everyone else, to the monitor room. Away!** "

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"So...Who do you think is gonna win, Deku-kun?"

Izuku's eyes were glued to the screen as he took in his friend's question, mind running rampant with analyses, "Hmm, I'd probably have to say Hagakure-san and Ojiro-kun have the advantage. Sato and Kaminari are not particularly built for infiltration, and Kaminari doesn't have enough control over his quirk that he could guarantee that he wouldn't shock Sato or the hostage. Plus with Hagakure-san's invisibility, the villain team definitely has the element of surprise on their side."

Yaoyorozu nodded her head in agreement, "I agree with Midoriya-san. In close quarters, there is no doubt that the villain team has the advantage, and adding that to the advantage they have with it being their territory…"

"Yes it does not look to be the most promising situation for the Hero team. But! Let us cheer both sides on to the best we can!" Iida declared, waving his arm up and down stiffly.

" **Well said, my students! Now, Hero Team are you ready?** " All Might said into his headset.

"We were born ready, All Might!"

" **Villain team, are you ready?** "

"Yup! We're ready to go!"

" **Alright, remember Hero team; You have 10 minutes to secure the hostage and bring them to safety. Your time starts...NOW!** "

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Alright, Sato my man, let's do this!" Kaminari burst through the front door of the building with a yell. "We know you're here, villains! Give up now and we'll bring the pain a little less!"

Sato pounded his fists together and began knocking down doors as they ran, gradually making their way up the building. Reaching the 3rd floor, they paused to rest for a moment before moving forwards again.

"They probably kept the hostage on the top floor so it would be hardest for us to save them. So let's keep moving and get up there!"

"Right!" Kaminari said before the two boys broke into a run up the stairs.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"So...I guess they decided on the in-your-face approach, huh?" Ojiro scratched his cheek as he heard the loud noises of Kaminari and Sato entering the building. He and Toru had decided to hole up in the large storage room on the top floor, keeping Midnight behind a stack of wooden palettes on the opposite wall of the only door into the room.

"So what do you want to do, Ojiro-kun? Should we stick to the plan of me sneaking around and trying to capture one of them?"

"Hmm, well if they're just running around trying to find us, it might be a little difficult for you to catch either of them. And if you get found out, it will be pretty hard for you to get away. And they might see your shoes and gloves too…"

"Oh! I am gonna take them off too, I have to be completely naked for my quirk to be used at full effect!" Hagakure nonchalantly said as she stripped of her remaining clothing, causing Ojiro to turn around with a sweatdrop

' _There's something strangely unsettling about that…'_

"Way to go Hagakure-san! I love your style~! I'm all for solidarity, but as you can see I'm a bit incapacitated at the moment. But I'm naked in spirit!" Midnight said from her spot in the corner where she was tied up.

' _There's something VERY unsettling about that…'_

"This is the last door! Let's do this, Sato!"

Footsteps were heard on the other side of the closed door, causing Ojiro to leap to his feet, "Welp, looks like we have no choice but to stand and fight. Hagakure, stand on the other side of the door and capture Sato as soon as he comes in! I'll cover the hostage!"

"Right!" Hagakure replied as she got into position, capture tape at the ready. Not moments later, the door slammed open and smashed against the wall, Sato and Kaminari bounding into the room.

"Get ready, villains! We're here to spoil your day! Sato, let's get 'em...Sato?" Kaminari turned to see white tape wrapped around Sato's arm, and the large teen standing there with an apologetic expression on his face. Next to him was a single glove holding up the victory sign.

{" **Sato of team Hero has been captured!** "} Boomed All Might's voice over the intercom.

"Oh man…Well then I guess I'll have to save the day!"" Kaminari turned just in time for Ojiro to sweep his legs out from under him and pin his waist down with his body weight. Ojiro wasted no time in wrapping the capture tape around Kaminari's wrist, ending the match.

{" **Kaminari of team Hero has been captured! Since both members of the hero team have been captured, the Villain team wins!** "}

"Heh, sorry Kaminari...Better luck next time, I guess" Ojiro said as he got off of his classmate and helped him to his feet.

"You sure got us good!" Kaminari patted the dust off his behind and wrapped an arm around Ojiro's shoulder, "That leg sweep was so Cobra Kai Dojo, man!"

"We did it, Ojiro-kun!" Ojiro turned to see a pair of gloves excitedly waving in front of him. "We totally kicked butt!"

Kaminari looked on with a sweatdrop and leaned over to Sato, who had just caught up to them as they headed back to the monitor room for the results, "Dude, is it just me, or is she like naked?"

Sato nodded, "Yeah, it kinda startled me too. I guess it's not _that_ big of a deal since we can't see her. Hey, is it just me, or do you feel like we're forgetting something?"

Kaminari tilted his head to the side in thought, yellow bangs sliding across his forehead, "Hmm, now that you mention it…"

"HEY YOU BRATS! COME UNTIE ME"

All four students stopped dead in their tracks, "Ahh…"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

After successfully keeping Midnight from incurring her wrath on the four students who had just conducted their battle trial, All Might had finished writing his report on the first match and turned to his class.

" **Alright everyone! Now that the first match is complete, I want to hear what you all thought of it! Who was the MVP of this match?** "

Momo's hand shot up immediately, and once All Might called on her, she cleared her throat and spoke confidently before her peers, "Well it was clear from the get-go that the villain team had the advantage in this bout. Despite being rushed at in the room that they were stationed in, they quickly apprehended both heroes and used the hastiness of their opponents against them. Both villains did well to do their part in taking the hero team down, but I believe that Hagakure-san was the most valuable. She used her quirk to full effect in catching Sato-san off guard and capturing him as soon as he entered the room."

" **Ha Ha, w-well said, Young Yaoyorozu! Very informative indeed, I could not have said it better myself!** " All Might turned away and coughed nervously into his hand, ' _ **Holy shit! She said so much! I thought Young Midoriya was bad! Looks like he has a rival when it comes to over complicated and over detailed explanations to things…**_ ' He cleared his throat and flipped the page over on his clipboard, " **Well, anyways…** "

"Wait, All Might Sensei!" Izuku called out with his hand up, getting his teacher's attention, "I think there are some things that may have been overlooked by Yaoyorozu-san regarding the last match."

"Oh. Well, sure, go ahead."

Izuku turned to his classmates, "I think most of you aren't giving enough credit to Kaminari-kun and Sato-kun." He turned to the blonde, "It was your idea to rush in head-first and start searching up and down for the hostage, right?" Getting a nod, he continued, "You did that on purpose taking Hagakure-san's quirk into consideration, right?"

"Huh, what do you mean?" Asked Ashido, "How would that help?"

"Think about it...No offence, but Hakagure-san isn't the _most_ athletic person, so in order for her to capture either of the heroes, she would have had to rely solely on the element of surprise. If Kaminari-kun and Sato-kun slowly made their way around and constantly paused, there would be plenty of chance for her to sneak up and catch one of them off guard. Also, blitzing into the room and at Ojiro-kun was really their best plan of attack since he was the only one that would have been able to defend well in a hand-to-hand scenario. Kaminari-kun also had no option to use his quirk since he could risk hurting Sato-kun or the hostage, as stated earlier, so all he could do was work best with the situation that was presented to him. If Hagakure-san had failed to capture Sato-kun right away, I think that the fight could have easily gone in their favour."

Most of the class began nodding in agreement, causing Momo to frown to herself, ' _That never even occurred to me...How is it that two times in a row, Midoriya-san keeps beating me? Physical tests are one thing, but I thought I would at least have the advantage in bouts of logic and analysis…._ '

"Midoriyaaaa!" Kaminari bounded towards the greenette and threw his arms around him with tears comically pouring from his eyes, "You didn't think I was a pathetic loser like everyone else!"

While Izuku patted the crying teen's back and tried to pry him off of his body, bouts of chatter began to arise from the rest of the class.

"Man, I thought the heroes really blew that one big time, but Midoriya raises some good points." Sero said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Indeed. The hero team did well, all things considered." Tokoyami looked at Kaminari blubbering into Midoriya's shoulder pitifully, "Despair has its own calms."

"It looks like Yaoyorozu-chan has competition, kero." Asui stated, getting nods from Uraraka and Jiro.

"Deku-kun is a real smarty-pants. I wouldn't be surprised if he was at the top of the class this year. Or one of them at least, Bakugo-kun is pretty smart too."

"FUCK YOU ROUND FACE! DEKU DOESN'T HAVE SHIT ON ME!"

Jiro rolled her eyes, "He sure doesn't act like it. So loud…Anyway, it's our turn next, so we should go get ready. Midoriya!" Said boy turned at the mention of his name, finally able to be free of Kaminari after Ojiro and Sato had pulled him off.

"Oh right, good call. Can we go prep, All Might?"

" **Huh? Oh, sure! Remember, once you get down there, both teams have 10 minutes to prepare. I'll call the start over the intercom once it's time.** "

"Alright," Izuku turned to leave with Jiro, but caught himself and whipped around, "Good luck, Kirishima-kun! Yaoyorozu-san! I hope we have a good match!"

"Hell yeah! I'm bringing my A-game!" Kirishima excitedly replied before turning to his partner, "Let's do this Yaoyorozu!"

Said girl looked lost in thought for a moment before she was shaken out of it, "O-Oh, of course. I'll do my best as well, Kirishima-san." Momo replied before exiting the room towards the trial building.

" **Okay, Hero team, Villain team, your 10 minute-prep begins now!** "

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Okay, that's the last of them. Man your quirk sure is handy, being able to make thick metal sheets like these!" Kirishima wiped some beads of sweat forming on his brow as he and Momo finished barricading all of the windows to the room that they were keeping their hostage. "Now what should we do? Just wait till they come?"

Momo pulled the top of her leotard closed and twirled a metal bo staff in her hand, "Jiro-san's quirk will allow them to pinpoint our location almost immediately, and Midoriya-san's quirk gives them an advantage if we tried to stay on the move, so I think that staying here and shoring up our defences is the best approach to this situation. I want to save some of my reserves for an emergency, so I don't think I can make anything else too big either." Taking a moment to brainstorm for a moment, Momo surveyed her surroundings, hoping to find a spark of inspiration that would give her team an edge in this battle. ' _Okay, so since the only possible way of entry is the door on the opposite wall of where we are keeping the hostage, we can funnel them through there…And if they do manage to somehow get through us, it's a straight shot to Midnight-Sensei...Unless…_ ' Momo clapped her hands as the gears turned in her heads, "Yes, that could work!" She wasted no time in activating her quirk and creating the objects necessary for her plan, "Kirishima-san, your quirk allows you to make your skin extremely hard, correct?"

"Pretty much," The redhead activated his quirk in his arm, causing it to become jagged and sharp, "I can break through stuff as strong as concrete, and can keep the form up pretty long as long as I'm not getting hit too hard. Why?"

The black-haired teen gave her partner a fierce look that exuded nothing but determination, "Could you successfully curl up into a ball in that state?"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

As soon as Izuku and Jiro made it to the base of the building where the hostage would be held, the greenette begin going through a series of stretches to limber himself up for the upcoming bout.

Leaning against a railing, Jiro looked up at the building twirling one of her jacks in her finger, "So what's the plan, Midoriya?"

Izuku stood back up straight from touching his toes and began stretching his arm across his chest, "Knowing Yaoyorozu-san, she'll know that there's no point in hiding or staying on the move because of our quirks, so it's most likely that we are gonna have to power into whatever room they're holed up in and it'll be a head-on fight."

Jiro raised an eyebrow, "So we are just gonna let them funnel us into whatever traps they have set up? Look dude, you're obviously strong as shit, but are you sure we can manage something like that? I don't know how good I'll be in an actual fight..."

Izuku gave his partner an amused grin, "The key to beating someone as smart as Yaoyorozu is to make her think she's the one in control." He poked his index finger against his temple several times, "We'll give her exactly what she wants, but who says her traps will be able to stop us? We can go up floor by floor, you using your quirk to listen in for where they are and I can use the air vents to get around faster. Once either of us finds them, we regroup outside their room and get ready to breach from there. No doubt they have some kind of barricades or reinforcements on the entrances to slow us down, but I have a solution to that," Izuku smirked at his clenched fist, the glow of OFA hidden by his gloves. Looking at the slightly unsure look on Jiro's face, the boy patted her on the shoulder and gave her his most "All Might"-y smile he could muster, "And you should believe in yourself a little more than that, Jiro-san. You're here for a reason, just like the rest of us, so show us why, okay? The moment you stop doubting yourself is the moment you really start to shine, trust me."

Jiro stared into Izuku's eyes for a few seconds before guffawing into her hand, "Dude, that was so lame." She stuck out her fist, "But thanks. Let's do this."

Izuku's smile widened and he bumped fists with his teammate, energized by her newfound resolve, "Let's do this."

The intercom bonged in their headsets, " **Alright, prep time is over! Your time starts...NOW!** "

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Midoriya, come in." Jiro pulled her earphone jack out of the wall and crouched down, finger to her headset in her ear, "I hear some shuffling up on the top floor, northeast corner. That's gotta be them. I'm gonna head up and get a better listen, so meet me a floor below that on the southwest staircase."

Izuku scurried through the air vent and swiftly transformed back to human from his mouse form and answered the call, "Got it, I'll be right there."

Bounding up the stairs, Izuku slowed to a sneaking walk as he came up to Jiro, who was kneeling down with her jack plugged into the wall. "Yeah, they're definitely up there." She whispered

Nodding in acknowledgement, Izuku signalled for Jiro to follow him, and the two slowly creeped up the stairs. They came to a stop just outside of the door to the room that the Villain team were heard to be in.

Izuku held up a fist to Jiro behind him, before he put up three fingers. The punk-girl nodded to him, and he began counting down.

 _3\. 2. 1!_

Izuku instantly morphed into a bighorn sheep and galloped forward with all his strength, boosting the power of his rush with OFA coursing through him.

The metal door flew off the hinges and skidded across the tile floor, allowing for Izuku and Kyoka to rush through the opening. Izuku morphed back to normal and looked around. "Something's not right…" The room was cluttered with crates, barrels, and palettes, making it incredibly difficult for the Hero duo to see where their opponents or the hostage was. There were scarce rays of light peeking in through the barricaded windows, making it difficult to see in front of them.

Izuku sniffed the air a couple of times, confused as to what scent he had picked up, "Is that...Gunpowder?" The teen's eyes widened as a faint orange light glowed from across the room, traveling across the floor. "Shi—" Was all he could get out before a resounding BOOM was let off through the room and Kirishima came hurtling towards Izuku, impacting the emerald-haired hero-in-training head on and sending them both flying backwards into the hall.

"Midoriya!" Jiro could barely make heads or tails of where she was, still reeling from the sound of the cannon afflicting her hypersensitive hearing. Thankfully, she regained her bearings just in time to dodge a downward swing of Momo's bo staff, causing the girl to leap backwards out of harm's way.

Momo looked hesitant for a second before she dramatically pointed at Jiro with her other hand on her hip, "Surrender now hero, or I will have to capture you by force! You will never stop our nefarious schemes!" Momo internally winced due to the fact that she had never had to act like a villain before and wasn't sure exactly how evil she was sounding.

Suppressing a giggle, Jiro shrugged and put her hands up, "Alright, ya got me." As Momo approached her, Jiro sneakily slid one of her jacks down the back of her leg to plug into the port she had built into her boot. Right as the taller girl reached out with the tape, Jiro let off a sound blast powerful enough to send Momo to her knees. Seizing the opportunity, Kyoka struck her opponent backwards with a thrusting kick before she grabbed the bo staff off of the floor and dashed out of sight.

Grimacing from the blow, Momo slowly rose to her feet and frantically looked around. "I can't believe I let her deceive me like that." Forming a new weapon for herself, Momo pulled a bokken (Wooden sword) out of her shoulder and slowly began making her way around the room in search of Jiro.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Izuku shook the dizziness out of his head from the impact of Kirishima slamming into him, pulling himself out of the pile of debris that he had created when he was plowed through a stack of wooden crates. As soon as he stood up, he had to roll out of harm's way as Kirishima came sailing down and smashed into the floor with his strike intended for Midoriya's head.

"Let's go Midoriya! Me and you, a one-on-one brawl!" Kirishima smiled widely as he hardened his arms and quickly advanced on the greenette.

Midoriya ducked under a right hook and threw a hard left towards Kirishima's sternum followed by a right straight that managed to send the red-head skidding back.

"Heh, you got some power there, Midoriya! But you're gonna have to do better than that to break through me!" Kirishima wasted no time in diving back in and assaulting Izuku with a flurry of strikes aimed at various spots on his upper body.

Not missing a beat, Izuku continuously dodged each blow, waiting for the perfect moment to strike back. ' _There!_ ' Sidestepping an overextended swing, Izuku surged with OFA and delivered a swift series of punches to Kirishima's body and head, wincing slightly at the abrasive surface digging into his gloved knuckles. The strikes were powerful enough to rock the hardening-user, leaving him susceptible to a follow up that Izuku made sure to capitalize on.

As if he were Charlie the Karate Chimp himself, Izuku went chimpanzee and spun on his heel, twisting in the air to deliver a devastating butterfly kick that connected square in Kirishima's face. The blow sent him corkscrewing through the air and he landed hard on his back a few feet away. Izuku chased after Kirishima, grabbing him by the ankle and spinning around like a hairy green Beyblade. The student-turned simian flung his poor opponent hard into the wall, causing him to gasp in pain upon impact and slide down onto the floor.

Izuku reverted and ran up to Kirishima, quickly wrapping the capture tape around his unmoving body.

{" **Kirishima of team Villain has been captured!** "}

"Sorry, Kirishima-kun. Gotta go help Jiro-san!" Izuku called over his shoulder as he ran back into the room where Momo and Kyoka were scuffling. He peeked into the room to see Momo slowly moving around the room, peering around corners every few moments, "Jiro-san must have managed to escape and hide somewhere," Izuku said to himself quietly as he stalked into the room. ' _We still haven't been able to locate where the hostage is being kept, so I guess all we can do right now is capture Yaoyorozu-san so we can search interrupted. I'm pretty sure I could win on my own, but it's a team effort, so finding Jiro-san first will help…'_

Izuku transformed into a mouse and quickly scampered around the room, making sure to stay out of Momo's sightline. Scurrying around a stack of metal barrels, Izuku caught sight of his partner and silently transformed back to normal.

Noticing his approach, Jiro peered over her hiding spot to make sure the coast was clear, "I think I know where the hostage is, I can hear a heartbeat in the corner over there." Jiro stuck a thumb out towards a large tarp in the far corner of the room, "I think they hid her under there." She whispered, "Get down!" Both teens ducked as Momo walked by, visibly irritated that she had not managed to find them yet.

As soon as she passed, Izuku pulled his head up and surveyed their options, "We only have a few minutes left, so if we are gonna make a move, it has to be soon." Crouching back down into hiding, Izuku turned to his teammate, "Alright, here is what we are gonna do…"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Where in the world are they?" Momo walked around the room for about the fourth time, clearly upset and out of patience. "I know that we can win via time-out, but this is honestly quite vexing. Especially after the fact that I wanted to show my skills against Midoriya-san…" Huffing in annoyance, Momo decided to make one more round before she stopped dead in her tracks. "Is that?" She peered around one of the foundational pillars in the room to see Kyoka standing with her back completely turned to her, right in front of the tarp that she had hid Midnight under. Panicking slightly, Momo quickly stalked over, hoping that the earphone-jack user was distracted enough for her to remain unnoticed. Just as Kyoka was about to lift the tarp, Momo pulled her bokken back, aiming for a quick incapacitating strike.

"NOW!" Kyoka swiftly ducked under the swing, causing Momo to freeze in shock. The purple haired girl then spun on her heel and used her jacks to swipe and disarm Momo, sending her weapon sliding across the room. However, neither girl expected one of Kyoka's jack to get deflected by the hilt of Momo's weapon, causing it to redirect and swing across Momo's chest, the metal tip of the jack ripping off the top of Momo's leotard. Both girls went bug-eyed and stared up and down between the endowed teen's chest and each other, both blushing harder by the second.

"We got you!" The wealthy Yaoyorozu had no time to react as an emerald-green cow galloped towards her, intent on ramming her out of commission. Izuku's eyes widened when he saw the state of Momo's dress, causing him to stumble out of control and back into human form. "Ahhhhh!" Izuku screamed, covering his eyes with his hands as he uncontrollably slammed into Momo, sending them both flying and landing on the ground in a tangled heap.

"Ow ow ow…" Izuku rubbed his sore head as he opened his eyes, only to see that he had landed on his back, with Momo pressed onto him, her face hovering over his. Steam shot out of his ears as he covered his eyes, "AH I'M SORRY!"

"Kyaaa!" Momo shrieked, reflexively socking Izukuing right in the face and leaping back with her arms over her chest, only to be caught in capture tape from behind by a red-faced Jiro.

"Uhh, I-I got you...Now cover up!" Momo wasted no time in using the tape to pull the remains of her leotard back over herself, using her quirk to quickly create a black hoodie to fully cover her form.

{" **Yaoyorozu of team Villain has been captured! Now all the hero team has to do is save the hostage, and they win!** "}

Momo's shoulders slumped in defeat, a dark rain cloud appearing over her. "I lost again…" Jiro patted her back sympathetically as they both walked over to the tarp. Jiro pulled it off to reveal a large clear box with Midnight sitting inside, tied up and gagged.

"You really locked her up good, huh?" Jiro said with a sweatdrop.

"Y-Yes well, with Midoriya's strength taken into consideration...This was all I could think of to slow him down. Bulletproof glass and a complicated series of knots using polyester rope."

Just then, Izuku walked up to them, sporting a bloody nose and a blushing face. He saw Momo and immediately looked away.

Blushing a bit herself, Momo bowed her head, "I'm sorry Midoriya-san!"

Still unable to look at her, Izuku scratched the back of his head, "D-Don't worry about it, we were opponents after all…" He smashed to lock to the box and pulled Midnight out, slinging the woman over his shoulder. Behind him, Jiro undid the gag that was around Midnight's mouth, allowing for their teacher to let out a breath.

"Ahh, that's better," Midnight began squirming in Izuku's grip, "What a wonderful job you heroes did! Shall I give my big strong hero a wonderful reward for saving me and carrying me to safety~? I would be more than happy to mmfph—!" She was cut short by Jiro putting the gag back over her mouth.

The trio of students walked out of the room to see Kirishima being carted out on a stretcher by two robot assistants. The redhead looked up from his lying position and gave Midoriya a thumbs up, "That was a hell of a fight, Midoriya! You got me good, but I'll be waiting for a rematch!" Izuku smiled and bumped fists with his classmate, waving at him as he was carried off to the infirmary.

{" **The hostage has been successfully rescued! Hero team wins!** "}

"Great job, Jiro-san! You did great!" Izuku smiled warmly at his partner, getting a playful punch to the shoulder in return.

"You didn't do half-bad yourself, dude. Nice workin' with ya."

Izuku blushed and side-glanced at Momo, "You too, Yaoyorozu-san. It was a good match."

Momo chuckled dryly, "You completely overwhelmed us, Midoriya-san. We both know it. No amount of planning and preparation could make up for the clear gap in ability that we have." She finished dejectedly.

Izuku turned around to face the sad girl, an intense expression on his face, "Don't say that. You are an incredibly smart and capable person who will no doubt be a hero. Don't let losses drag you down, let them push you forward to be better than you were yesterday."

Smiling at his words, Momo nodded and clenched her fist in front of her, "That's very kind, thank you. I will take this loss to heart and continue to improve. You will not be able to get a moment's rest, Midoriya-san, because I will keep improving until we can compete on equal grounds!" Both Kyoka and Izuku smiled at Momo's resolve before the boy's smile dropped.

"Did I just make another rival? Why does this keep happening?" He shrugged to himself as they walked back to the monitor room for assessment, "Oh well, just another reason to keep getting stronger. Though...Kacchan will probably be upset that he has more people to deal with... Ah, it'll be fine."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hello again, guys!**

 **There's something very important that I need to talk to you guys, first and foremost.**

 **Between last update and now, Beast Mode crossed 10 000 views!**

 **Honestly, I couldn't beleive it when I saw that number on my computer screen. I must've sat staring at it for the longest time. Writing this story has brought me so much joy and fulfillment, it really warms the fuck out of my heart to know that people out there are enjoying it that much as well. As of right now, I think the view count is around 14 k and counting, which again...Fucking nuts.**

 **Anyways...It's been a while. How are you? I'm fine. March Madness just ended, and while the tournament as a whole was super fun to watch, and Virginia had a hell of a team...I am all Duke so...Yeah...**

 **I was thinking of doing a Q &A sometime soon, maybe to celebrate whenever we get to 20K views. Would that be something that y'all would wanna do? We'll see.**

 **So yeah, that's all I got. Later.**

As soon as Izuku, Momo, and Kyoka returned to the monitor room where the rest of their class was, they were swarmed with a barrage of questions and comments about their match.

The Hero Team was receiving praise for their efforts to achieve victory, while most congratulated Momo as well for giving her best despite losing. As soon as the excitement died down, Izuku was grabbed by Mineta and Kaminari, who both had dark looks in their eyes.

"MIDORIYA!" They screamed, shaking the greenette wildly, "YOU LUCKY BASTARD!" Izuku grimaced as the two slobbered all over him and yanked at his arms.

"How can you just walk back in here after witnessing nirvana?! How could the camera angle from in here have not shown it to MEEE?!" Mineta leapt up and down on Izuku's shoulders as he clung to his head.

Mineta and Kaminari were swiftly incapacitated by Jiro's quirk, and their quivering bodies were dragged away by Iida, who was shaking his head in dismay.

" **Ahem, anyway…** " All Might mumbled with a sweatdrop, " **Very well done, my students! Now, can we have some insight on the battle that we had just witnessed? Anyone?** **Anyone** _ **other**_ **than you two.** " Izuku and Momo deflated as they were shot down by their sensei, " **Young Asui! Yes, go ahead!** "

The amphibian-esque girl nodded. "The Villain team did what they could to prepare. They thought of many different possibilities, and thanks to Yaoyorozu-chan's quirk, they could produce resources that fit whatever needs they had. It boiled down to bad luck that they had to face Jiro-chan and Midoriya-chan."

"You said it. Midoriya is a freakin' maniac, man." Sero muttered under his breath.

"I'm inclined to agree with Asui-kun." Iida added, "Despite their best efforts, nothing could successfully combat Midoriya-kun's sheer fighting ability." He swung his arm over to Izuku, "It is clear that he has sharpened his skills for quite some time. But, that is not to discount Yaoyorozu-kun or Kirishima-kun in any way! They performed admirably, we can all agree upon that fact!" Iida received nods of agreement from his peers and from All Might.

" **Absolutely! A loss such as this should only help in keying into your areas of weakness and finding ways to overcome them for the future! That is why you are here, after all!** " Giving Momo a pat on the back, All Might beamed with pride when she nodded resolutely, " **Now, enough dilly-dallying! On to the next match!** "

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

And so, class 1-A carried on according to plan, having the remainder of the battle trials that were set up for that day.

Todoroki caught the entirety of the class off-guard, the opposing villain team and his own teammate included, by freezing the entire building as soon as their match had started. Despite his best efforts to react in time and not get captured in the arctic assault, Tokoyami and Dark Shadow found themselves overwhelmed by the magnitude of Todoroki's assault, quickly joining Koda in being stuck to the floor by a thick sheet of ice.

Shoto calmly walked into the room where the villains had been frozen and tossed a strip of capture tape over each of their petrified forms. "Sorry, I don't care much for beating around the bush. I stopped the ice from crawling too far up your body, so don't worry." He turned to Shoji, who had just made it into the room, shock apparent on his masked face, "You want to escort the hostage out, or should I?"

"Erm, feel free to do it, if it's not too much trouble for you…" Shoji scratched his temple with one of his dupli-arms, ' _How can he say that so normally after doing something like that?_ '

Shoto shrugged and walked over to the corner, where Midnight was situated on top of a crate.

"My, my! Another strong young man here to save the day and carry me to safety~!" Midnight gave the teen a teasing smile but frowned as soon as she felt him untying the rope that immobilized her.

"She's fine to walk, so you can take her, Shoji. I should defrost those two before they get frostbite."

" **T-T-T-The H-H-Hero team w-w-w-ins!** " All Might declared through chattering teeth as he and his students stood shivering in the monitor room.

"Man, that was kinda…"

"Lame?" Kaminari finished Ashido's sentence, still rubbing his arms to try and warm himself back up.

The pink-skinned girl shook her head, "I was gonna say anticlimactic, but yeah. I wouldn't wanna be any of those other three, they didn't even get to do anything!"

The match after that was not any more of a nail-biter, but it at least proved to be somewhat entertaining to watch.

Almost immediately, Ashido and Asui seemed to click and pulled off an expert display of teamwork, moving off of each other as they sped down the corridor of the building, right towards Uraraka and Aoyama, who were guarding the door to their base.

Ashido used her acid to glide swiftly across the floor, moving as if she were an olympic speed-skater, perfectly in sync with Asui, who was using her frog-like abilities to leap from wall to wall. Their quick movements allowed them to dodge Aoyama's laser shots and Uraraka's debris projectiles with ease, and the steadily began pushing their opponents back.

"Aoyama-kun, we can't keep this up much longer! I'm about to reach my limit!" Uraraka could feel herself losing her bearings as her quirk caused her more and more nausea as time went on.

"Fear not, mademoiselle! I will win this skirmish on my own, using my fabulous quirk and stylish charm!" He threw his hands behind his head and thrust his hips forward, "Naval Laser!" A bright beam shot out of Aoyama's belt buckle, narrowly missing Ashido as she ducked under it, almost falling down.

Luckily, Asui managed to catch her with her tongue and throw her back on course, "Thanks!" The acid-user shot her teammate a thumbs-up before turning to her opponent with a smirk, "Good try, Aoyama! But you gotta do better than that!"

Aoyama threw his head back in amusement, "Ha, I would not speak so hastily, ma cherie! My quirk is too amazing to be—Hrggghhhh!" The blonde boy suddenly lurched over, gripping his stomach.

"Aoyama-kun, are you okay?!" Uraraka's head shot over to her teammate, who's stomach began making noises akin to a box of rusty nails inside a wood chipper. This moment of distraction was enough for the hero team to quickly jump onto the offensive. Tsuyu leapt off of the wall and spun in the air, whipping Ochako hard in her side with her long tongue. Ashido used the momentum from her sliding and leaped in the air, tackling Aoyama to the ground and capturing him.

After that, extracting the hostage was fairly simple, resulting in yet another win for the hero teams.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

After that match's debriefing, it was time for the final bout of the day. It was clear that Bakugo was impatiently waiting for his turn to fight, and he practically dragged Sero by the neck out the door as soon as All Might allowed them to go prep.

As soon as they made it to the base of the building, Bakugo released poor Sero and scowled as he eyed the outside of the structure from top to bottom.

"Hey, weird teeth! Get off your ass, we're going up!" Bakugo didn't even turn around when he spoke, opting instead to look over his costume to make sure that all of his gear was in good shape for immediate use.

Sero stared up at the building, "Like, from the top? Why would we do that?"

"Why the fuck would anyone put their hostage anywhere but the furthest point from the ground floor? That's the problem with this dumb exercise, everyone keeps doing the same shit, and no one on the defending team thinks to try anything else. Glasses and short stack aren't gonna be any different, either. Your quirk can get your ass up there, so can mine. Why would we waste time going up from the inside if we can go right to the top and come down on their heads?"

Taking a few moments to take the explanation in, the lanky teen formed a smile, "Alright, I like this plan! You know, you're actually smart for such a rage-aholic psycho." Katsuki growled at the barb, causing Sero to step back nervously and throw his hands up in submission, "I-In a good way!"

The PA sounded off at that moment, alerting both teams that the match had a moment to compose himself, Katsuki clenched his jaw and breathed out slowly, "Just shut the fuck up and don't get in my way. You better not fucking get caught either, shitface."

Bakugo crouched down, before aiming his palms towards the ground and propelling himself up the side of the building. He landed firmly on the roof and slowly walked towards the door into the building as Sero lagged behind, using his tape to pull himself up.

"Jeez, you couldn't wait a second for me, Bakugo? It's not like you're gonna do this whole battle thing by yourself, is it?" The pointed look that Sero received from his partner caused him to sigh in exasperation.

"I don't give a shit what the fuck you wanna do, just stay outta my way, Soy Sauce Face! Now shut up and listen.."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Mineta-kun! Compose yourself! We must be on alert at all times for the moment that Bakugo-kun and Sero-kun decide to strike!" Iida did his best to try and get his partner to focus on the task at hand, but it seemed like the diminutive teen was much more interested in keeping his eyes on Midnight. "While I admire your dedication to making sure that the hostage does not leave your sight, I do not believe you need to be staring so intently, Mineta-kun! Also, you seem to be drooling a bit!"

Mineta slurped his slobber up and rubbed his chin with his forearm, "Hey, we're supposed to be villains, right? So we should act like it and do things that villains would do, right?"

"Hmm," Iida tapped a finger on the metallic chin of his helmet "You raise a strong argument, there. If we were to fully put ourselves into the frame of mind that a nefarious villain would have, it may allow us to absorb the key points of this lesson as much as possible! What did you have in mind for us to do?"

Mineta rubbed his hands together and giggled darkly, "Obviously, we are going to do the most evil and socially forbidden thing that anyone could ever think of!" He reached into his suit and pulled out his cellphone, "We are gonna illegally stream videos!"

"Oho! That is some very evil thinking, Mineta-kun!" Iida dashed over to his partner so that both of them could see the screen. "Nothing is more wicked than to undermine the genuine hard work of a content creator by eliminating the validity of their professionalism in consuming their product for free!"

"Exactly! And my cousin sent me just the video we can enjoy for free! Apparently, Americans have this thing called ' _Girls Gone Wild_ ' and we are gonna enjoy it in all its glo—AHH" The pint-sized pervert and tall tin-man were suddenly launched backwards onto their backs by an explosion that had put a car sized hole in the wall. As the dust and smoke from the blast settled, Bakugo stood before them, an animalistic grin on his face.

"Knock knock, fuckers!" He wasted no time in pouncing forward at the disoriented pair, but Iida managed to recover in time to grab Mineta and speed out of harm's way. Bakugo followed their path out of the corner of his eye and shot himself forward to intercept them. "Die!"

*BOOM*

While Katsuki terrorized the villain team, Sero stealthily came into the room and edged his way towards Midnight. Once he saw that the coast was clear, he grabbed her and made for the exit.

"Ah, the good old distract and grab. Not a bad idea." The woman commented as she watched the series of explosions throughout the room from over Sero's shoulder. As he scaled down the building, the screaming he heard (surely Mineta) made the tape-user shudder slightly.

"I guess it's a good thing he was my partner."

"HURRY UP AND TAKE MIDNIGHT TO THE EXIT BOUNDARY, SHIT BAG!"

"Or...Maybe not…"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Almost everyone in the class was relieved to finally be finished for the day, and after All MIght's lecture at the end of the lesson, many savoured the hot showers afterwards to soothe their tired bodies.

"Now that was a class! I can't wait to do more hands-on stuff!" Ashido buttoned the top of her uniform up and plopped down on the locker room bench with a sigh, "It was way more exciting than sitting in class in learning boring junk!"

Asui wrung the water out of her hair as she sat down next to her, "I think you just don't like classes that require books, Ashido-chan." The pink-skinned girl couldn't help but get bashful at that comment, chuckling lightly.

"Yeah, but it was definitely fun." Jiro added.

Slapping her on the back playfully, Ochako couldn't help but laugh, "You're just saying that cause you and Deku-kun totally kicked butt!"

"I guess you got me there," She replied with a light smile, "Sorry again about that, Yaoyorozu."

The ponytailed girl waved her off, "No need to feel sorry, Jiro-san. You were doing what was expected of you in the exercise. Besides, despite being defeated like we were, I found it to be enjoyable."

"Ne ne, we're all gonna be classmates, why don't we all call each other by our first names! What do you say, girls?" Hagakure excitedly suggested.

No one else in the room could find any reason to object, and so all 6 girls of 1-A officially began their first-name-basis friendship.

"Okay, now that we are all besties for life, we need to talk about something very important. I'm talking life-or-death!" The floating set of clothes gained the full attention of all the other girls, "We need to discuss...BOYS!"

"That's life-or-death? You really need to check your priorities, dude." Jiro said with a sweatdrop.

"Of course! Gossip is the overarching goal of anyone's daily life, and if it's gossip about romance and love, it's even more important!" Mina leaped to her feet and stood next to Toru in solidarity, "We gotta gossip about boys to our hearts' content! First thing's first...Who do you guys think is the cutest boy in class?"

"Todoroki-chan is pretty cute, kero. He reminds of those erasers that are two colours."

"Oh totally, girl. Or maybe one of those soft-serve ice creams. He could give me brain freeze any day."

"I don't really think about that kind of stuff with boys, kero. But I can understand why you could think that, Toru-chan."

"Midoriya and Kirishima are good looking. I bet Kirishima spends more time on his hair in the morning than we do combined, though. That might drive any girl crazy if they were outmatched like that."

"I knew Kiri since middle school. I can definitely confirm that that is true. But I like his spiky hair, cause it makes us Horn Buddies!"

Several ooh's made Mina shake her head in amusement, "But we're just friends, you guys."

"Hm, yeah...What about Kaminari-kun and Bakugo-kun? They're both good looking, too. Although, Bakugo-kun would probably get mad if anyone complimented him about anything!"

"You all raise good arguments, girls. There are definitely plenty of cutie pies to choose from in the class, how can we decide on just one? And did you see some of those costumes?" Toru squealed while waving her arms back in forth in front of her.

"Why in the world are we talking about this, everyone?" The girls turned to Momo, who had just finished getting dressed and shot them all an annoyed look. "We should make the most of our time to rest and prepare for class tomorrow. Heaven only knows what will be in store for us..."

Getting a series of groans from her classmates, Momo failed to notice the floating UA uniform coming up behind her.

"Jeez, don't be such a party pooper, Momo-chan! How about we talk about something a little more spicy than just who we think is cute in class? Midoriya is one lucky guy isn't he? Getting to see you in all your glory?" She teased as she grabbed Momo's ample chest.

Momo went beet red and abruptly pushed herself off of the invisible girl, "Toru-san, please! Can we not bring that up, it was very embarrassing for me!" She covered her burning face as the other girls giggled at her.

"Deku-kun definitely wouldn't try anything perverted, so you don't have to worry about that. He has a girl he likes already anyways…" Ochako blinked and suddenly found herself cornered by Mina and Toru, who were staring expectantly at her.

"He does?!"

"Tell us everything!"

"Spare no detail!"

"Spill the tea!"

Ochako began sweating nervously as the two hyperactive girls began hounding her for information. She looked to the other three for a source of salvation, but the looks of intrigue on their faces told Ochako that she was on her own. "Alright, alright! I'll tell!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"ACHOO!"

"Whoa, you alright there, Midoriya?" Ojiro handed the sniffling greenette a tissue so he could wipe his nose.

After blowing his airways clear, he thanked his classmate and tossed the tissue in the trash, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Maybe someone's talking about you." Most of the boys merely shrugged at Sero and went back to getting changed, "What, you guys have never heard that superstition before?"

Several of the less socially active boys had already gone back to the dorms after changing out of their hero costumes, which left Midoriya, Kaminari, Sero, Ojiro, and reluctantly, Bakugo behind in the change rooms.

"Deku, can you hurry the fuck up so we can go?! I'm tired of waiting for your slow ass!"

"Why do you have to wait for him? If you're in such a hurry, why don't you just go back by yourself?"

"Who asked you, Sparky?!" Bakugo snapped at the blonde. He grumpily slung his bag over his shoulder and pulled Ojiro by the tail behind him as he made for the door, "Whatever. Come on, Monkey Boy. Don't sit on your ass forever, Deku. It's already 5."

Ojiro sweatdropped as his roommate dragged him out of the change room, waving to the remaining boys. After the pair left, Kaminari turned to Midoriya with a skeptical glance, "I don't know how you can be such good friends with that guy, Midoriya."

"Yeah, the fact that you haven't run for the hills like your life depended on it yet is pretty damn surprising." Sero added.

Izuku let out a light chuckle, slightly confusing the other two boys, "Everyone always says that, believe it or not. Kacchan cares. He has his own way of showing it, but he's always been there for me since we were kids. So I've learned to put up with him just like he puts up with me. And you may think I'm lying, but Kacchan was a lot worse when we were younger. He's calmed down quite a bit."

Sero and Kaminari shared a disbelieved look, both somehow trying to manage a Katsuki that was _more_ menacing and angry than the one they had just become acquainted with. They shuddered at the image in their minds.

"He takes some time to understand, trust me. It doesn't shock me at all that you guys aren't too warmed up to him yet. He was even thoughtful enough to remind me that it was 5 so I could call—" Izuku clamped his lips shut as he had caught himself just in time before spilling out some _very_ personal information in mere casual conversation. His suddenly odd behaviour caused some raised eyebrows from his classmates, making him internally curse for his slip up.

"Call? Oh, so you planned to call someone later today?" Sero asked. Kaminari, being the person that he was, immediately jumped to the conclusion that Izuku was calling a _very_ special person and slid up to him in his seat with a smirk on his face.

"Oh, don't tell me Midoriya, you need to call your girlfriend? You and Uraraka may not be together, but are you holding out on us about another special lady in your life?" He wrapped an arm around Izuku's shoulder and cupped his own chin confidently, "Kaminari-niisan will teach you all about love, don't worry."

Getting redder by the second, Izuku shook his head and made some distance between himself and the blonde, "No no no no no, you're getting the wrong idea, Kaminari-kun! I meant to say that I'm calling…" His mind kicked into overdrive trying to come up with a good alternative answer,"Uh...Uhh...My mom! Yeah, that's it! I promised my mom I would call her and tell her how things were going!" Izuku began sweating as he waited to see if he would be believed, and as soon as they nodded that his words made sense, he grabbed his things and dashed out of the room, a faint trace of sparks left in his wake. "Okaybyeguysseeyoulater!"

After seeing Izuku disappear, Kaminari turned to Sero, "You're thinking what I'm thinking, right?"

"Totally, he's not fooling anybody," He nodded in agreement.

" _Midoriya is totally a mama's boy._ "

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Panting as he successfully made his escape, Izuku leaned against the door of his bedroom in relief, "That was close!" Putting his bag down, he instinctively turned around and threw his arms out in time for Nozomi to leap onto him, licking his face gleefully, "You thought you could sneak up on me, girl? Nice try!" Just then, Izuku's phone rang, the familiar light ringtone notifying him who was on the other line trying to video call with him. Shooeing Nozomi away until she reluctantly made herself comfy on the edge of his bed, Izuku grabbed his earphones and went out onto the balcony.

"Hello?"

{"Izuku! Hiya! How's it going? You have a good day?"}

Izuku couldn't help but smile when he saw Tatami appear on the small screen of his cellphone, sitting comfortably in bed in a set of teal pajamas with her ash-blonde hair let down and framing her delicate face perfectly. "I'm doing okay. Classes have been pretty eventful already…"

After explaining all of the exciting things that had taken place in such a short time at UA, Izuku could feel himself grinning from ear to ear at how attentive and interested that Tatami was in hearing about how things were going. "What about you? How have things been going at Ketsubutsu?"

Tatami's eyes lit up, {"I'm having a lot of fun! Since we're in second year now, we get to learn a lot more complex stuff than last year. And I've been working on a ton of new stuff with my quirk that even you would be amazed by!"}

"I can't wait then. We should spar the next time we get to see each other."

Tatami giggled cutely, but suddenly grew slightly flustered, and her head began slowly sinking into her body, a cue that Izuku came to know as when she was getting nervous, {"Haha, yeah...I really can't wait to see you again. But I'm not sure when I'll be able to with how busy things are gonna be…"}

"Yeah...I don't know when I'd get time off at all with how hectic UA gets right off the bat. Maybe during summer break...Hopefully…" It hurt Izuku that he couldn't see Tatami and the expression she wore told him that she felt the same. It was a bittersweet situation for the green-headed teen, who was still coming to terms with his own feelings, but he was at least glad that she enjoyed talking to and being around him.

{"Yeah...We'll figure something out, okay? Nothing's gonna keep me away from you forever, got that?"} She gave him a reassuring smile that fully quelled his frown and he smiled back at her widely.

"Yeah…" It was if something clicked in Izuku's heart at that moment, and he felt himself getting warm from top to bottom. Whether it was her heartfelt words, the fact that he missed her so much, or a combination of a myriad of factors, Izuku's mind was made up. ' _I definitely have to confess the next time we meet...Who knows when we will get to see each other…'_

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Before Izuku even realized, the pavillion and surrounding area that was visible from his balcony were being solely illuminated by the numerous streetlights that had come on after the sun had made its exit for the day.

"It's already so late...I didn't even notice that we were talking for like 3 hours!" a deep rumble from Izuku's stomach caught his attention, pulling a groan out his throat. "Man, I totally forgot about dinner!" Sliding the glass door open, he went inside and swiftly laid out a bowl of food and water for Nozomi, "I'm sorry, girl. You must have been starved." Leaving his dog to her dinner, Izuku left his room for the kitchen, intent on getting some food himself.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

It was an odd sensation for Izuku to be down in the common area by himself, as the only other times he'd been in it, the rest of his classmates were all out and about doing various things. To be fair, he didn't know what else to expect at almost 10 PM on a school night, but the eerie quietness still made him slightly antsy.

Mulling over his options, Izuku leaned his arms on the open french doors of the fridge, trying to grasp a taste that he was craving at the moment. "Man, this is hard…" He then noticed a bento box sitting in the back of the fridge with a large post-it note attached to the top of the lid. "Let's see…" He grabbed the box off of the shelf and perused over the note, which was written in bold red letters.

 _DIPSHIT NERD_

 _You took your damn sweet ass time talking to your girlfriend and forgot to eat again like a fucking idiot. Round face wanted to make some food for you, but her cooking was shit so I had to fix it so it was actually edible. Eat the fucking food if you know what's good for you_

Izuku couldn't help but chuckle at Katsuki's antics, and gratefully grabbed a pair of chopsticks and a glass of milk to go with his dinner. Opening the lid, Izuku's eyes sparkled when he immediately recognized a version of Mitsuki-san's famous chicken fried rice, a meal that he and Katsuki had eaten countless times growing up. Licking his lips, Izuku swiftly threw the portion into the microwave and impatiently waited to dig into his food.

About halfway through his plate of mouth watering fried rice, the elevator chimed, shifting Izuku's attention over to that direction, curious as to who else would be down in the common area at this time.

The door opened to reveal Ochako and Momo, both in pajama bottoms and tank tops as their slippered feet shuffled towards him. Noticing the messy-haired teen, Ochako perked up and gave him a wave, "Oh, hey Deku-kun! I see you found the rice that Bakugo-kun made for you! I wanted to make some dinner for you, but he kept saying I would mess it up and just made food by himself, hehe."

Swallowing his umpteenth mouthful, Izuku waved her off, "Don't worry about Kacchan. I appreciate that you thought about me, regardless."

"What are you doing eating dinner so late, Midoriya-san? Eating at this hour is not the healthiest way to live, you know. You need more time to digest a meal before you sleep. A routine like this will surely interfere with your overall functionality during the day." Momo chided.

"Oh, I had some things to take care of and I just sorta lost track of time. This isn't a habit I want to keep up, believe me."

Nodding in approval, Momo walked by him towards the fridge, "That's good to hear."

"What about you guys? What are you doing?" Izuku pointed his chopsticks back and forth between his two female classmates.

"Ochako-san and I are both still too unaccustomed to our new rooms to be able to sleep properly, so we agreed that a cup of chamomile tea might aid in combating our insomnia."

"I guess I'm just still kinda freaked out by how huge our room is. Even splitting the room with Momo-chan, it's still bigger than any other place I've ever lived in," The brunette bashfully admitted as she sat down next to her best friend.

"Interestingly enough, I have the opposite problem. The room is a tad bit stuffy for me to be used to so quickly. It's about the size of my 3rd closet at home." Momo added, causing the other two teens to sweatdrop at her genuinely innocent and unintentional flaunting of her massive wealth.

"Yeah that's fair. I think if I didn't have Nozomi with me, it would be way harder for me to sleep. Todoroki-kun definitely doesn't help with making me feel comfortable," He grumbled the last bit, shoveling some food in his mouth in the process.

Momo finished pouring the tea for herself and Ochako and took a seat at the kitchen island as well, stirring warm milk into her glass, "Oh, are you and Todoroki-san not getting along very well?"

Izuku scoffed, "That's an understatement. The first thing he said to me was that he isn't interested in being friends and is just here to be the best and beat all of us. Not exactly the friendliest guy in the world."

"That's too bad. It must be quite the challenge to share a living space with a person who has no intentions of forming any sort of amicable relationship with you. I myself am quite fortunate to have a person like Ochako-san as a roommate. We have already gotten along quite well." The two girls smiled at each other as they clinked their cups of tea together.

"Yeah! Momo-chan is great! She totally needs to join our squad!"

The rich girl set her cup back into her saucer and leaned her chin on her hand, "Pleasant things aside, do you have some sort of plan in order to at least find some common ground between yourself and Todoroki-san so that you aren't living in such a hostile environment?"

Izuku sighed and took a long sip from his drink, "I wish it were that easy. I can only do so much, you know. Friendship, respect, amiability...They're all two-way streets. He has to be willing to make an effort just as much as I am for there to be anything like that. It's not the worst thing in the world, because he mostly does his own thing and doesn't interact with me unless he absolutely has to. All I can really do at the moment is wait..." Izuku looked out of the corner of his eye to see Ochako staring intently at him and his plate of food, "Uhhh...Yes?" The brunette said nothing but lowered her head to just above the level of the island surface, inches away from Izuku's rice. After a few moments of silence, Izuku realized what Ochako was thinking, "You want some?"

Ochako lifted her head to meet Izuku's eye level, "Bakugo-kun yelled at me when I tried to taste some before. Can I?" She excitedly asked.

Izuku laughed out loud and scooped some up into his chopsticks, "Don't let Kacchan get to you. Here." He held out his hand and Ochako gratefully ate the helping, hands immediately trembling in satisfaction.

"Mmmm! That's so good!" She exclaimed, "Who knew that spikey rageball could make such good food!" Izuku nodded in agreement and they two had several more mouthfuls before Momo clearing her throat caught their attention.

"Huh? What's up, Yaoyorozu-san? And why are you so red?"

She blushed harder and looked away, "H-How can you two act in such a manner with such reckless abandon! Sharing eating utensils is far too intimate for students to be without crossing the line into inappropriate behaviour!"

Izuku and Ochako looked at each other in confusion before turning back to the onyx-haired girl with tilted heads.

"What's the big deal, I don't get it. You never shared food with your friends as a kid, Momo-chan?"

"No, something like that would have caused my parents to be quite upset. Such things were deemed unbecoming of a young lady."

"That's no fun," Izuku pursed his lips in thought, "Well do you want some? We aren't gonna get mad at you for it." He grabbed some rice and held it out in front of Momo, who gasped and recoiled backwards in embarrassment

"W-W-What?! How can you suggest such a thing, Midoriya-san?!". Izuku's unaffected expression made Momo panic even more, ' _How can he be so calm about this?! Does he not understand the severity of what he is suggesting?! Eating off of his chopsticks...That is nothing short of an indirect kiss! I absolutely cannot accept such an offer without the proper steps taken. I am not the type of woman to do such a thing!'_ Suddenly, Ochako grabbed the chopsticks from Izuku and inched closer to her roommate.

"C'mon, it won't hurt, Momo-chan. It's really tasty! Open up~!".

"Noo~!"

As Ochako chased a frantic Momo around the island with his food, Izuku watched with a mix of amusement and sadness, "I still wanted to finish eating, though…"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Aizawa Shota was many things.

He was a distinguished pro hero with many years of vigilant work under his belt. He was a reliable educator responsible for siring the next generation of heroes.

Aizawa Shota was also _not_ many things.

He was not a person that enjoyed wasting time, as it was a precious resource that one could never get back, save some sort of time-altering quirk. He did not enjoy very windy days, as it contributed to his dry-eye.

But above all else, Aizawa Shota was _NOT_ a morning person.

It was bad enough that the scruffy pro-hero's internal clock was severely out of whack due to years of night patrols. But if that were not enough, Shota also worked in a field that required attentive involvement from early in the morning. Many people criticized him for his seemingly eternal drowsiness and lackadaisical enthusiasm in everyday life, but his rebuttal to that was...Try being in charge of dozens of angsty hormone filled teens with superpowers and see how cheery and jubilant _you_ would be.

Some mornings were manageable. Ones that contained few to no inconveniences or instances of annoyance.

"Eraser! Good morning! Can I get 'YEAHHH'!"

But alas, with _certain_ individuals, those manageable mornings were very few and far between.

"Must you be so obnoxiously troublesome as soon as the day begins?" Aizawa grumbled, putting the finishing touches on his lesson plan for the day. He sighed and slid back in his chair, slowly rising to his feet. "Did you send that memo to the principal like you were supposed to?"

"Of course! Gimme some more credit than that, Eraser! I may be a hippity cool teacher and not a grouchy old man like you, but I'm not incompetent!"

Glaring skeptically at his long-time colleague, Aizawa internally debated for a moment whether that point was really worth contesting, but quickly gave up in favour of saving himself a headache, shrugging and beginning to walk away "Sure, sure, I'll take your word for it. Here's hoping the students don't give us too much trouble since its their first time going to the USJ." Just as he was leaving the teacher's lounge, Aizawa caught something out of his peripherals that made him groan in irritation. Looking outside the large glass window, Aizawa narrowed his eyes at the gaggle of reporters clamouring outside of the front gate, bothering students as they tried to enter the grounds. "Sigh...Damn press never knows when to quit. Come on, Mic. Let's go deal with the pests."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Izuku, Ochako, Bakugo, and Momo were making their way from the dorms towards UA Campus for class, the pair of girls walking ahead of the boys. Bakugo stared at the back of Momo's head, arms crossed behind his head, before he turned to Izuku.

"Why the hell is Ponytail here again?"

"C'mon, Kacchan. Be nice. Yaoyorozu-san is Uraraka-san's roommate, and she is her and I's friend. We're all gonna be classmates for a long time anyway, so isn't it a good idea to try and be friends with each other?"

Katsuki rolled his eyes at his green-haried friend, "I ain't gonna be buddy buddy with people just cause we are in the same room. I don't give a fuck about your shitty comradery, Deku. If Ponytail and Mochi face are gonna hang around you, I don't fucking care, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna do shit. As far as I'm concerned, you're the only person I can even tolerate around here, and that's not saying much."

Tilting his head in confusion, Izuku stared at Katsuki, "What about Kendo-san?"

Hearing the orangette's name, Katsuki sputtered and snapped his head away from Izuku so that the look of annoyed embarrassment could not be seen. He hated himself for immediately thinking back to the image of Kendo in her motorcycle suit, skin-tight spandex and all, cursing under his breath and trying to calm his blush, "Fat Hands is annoying…All she does is nag me and complain about fucking everything. Every time she opens her Goddamned mouth it's to say something that pisses me off! I fucking finally got out of my house and away from that old hag to fucking have to deal with another bitchy bitch that doesn't leave me the fuck alone!"

As Katsuki went on and on about Itsuka and how much she annoyed him, Izuku broke into a smile and looked forward, ' _I've never heard Kacchan talk about someone so much in one sitting. I'm glad he has other people he thinks of as friends besides me!_ ' The protege of All Might was shaken out of his thoughts when he bumped into Ochako's back, as she and Momo had stopped dead in their tracks a few feet from the front of the school.

All 4 of the students looked on at the mob of reporters and camera crews standing just outside of the threshold into the grounds, and before they knew it, they themselves were being swarmed by members of the press.

"You're UA students, right?"

"Please answer some questions about the school!"

"We are getting the scoop from these kids for sure!"

Somehow, the teens got cornered by the media persons, having nowhere to hide from the plethora of questions. But thankfully, Aizawa and Mic suddenly showed up to save them from the horde.

"Alright, listeners! That's quite enough! We are gonna need you folks to vacate the premises ASAP-aroonie!" Present Mic gave the stunned reporters a thumbs up with one hand and gave them a shoo-shoo motion with the other.

Some of the reporters grew discouraged at the dismissal at the hands of the pro-heroes, but a few greenhorns decided to press their luck and probe further. This was a grave mistake, as Mic tagged in Aizawa to deal with the riff-raff, and the scraggly hobo cosplayer wasted no time in turning his intimidation factor on to full effect, causing the media members to step back in fear of his glaring gaze.

"You people should find some better things to do than to pester high school students who are trying to get to class. You four." He called out to the group of teens. "Hurry along and get to class. The bell is going to ring in a few moments. They all nodded at their sensei and promptly made their way inside. Still standing firmly rooted in the gateway, Aizawa crossed his arms and gave the press one last look of vexation before turning on his heel and making his way into the building himself.

The reporters that had yet to flee all sighed in exasperation at being denied their scoops, grumbling to themselves and each other.

"God, those UA teachers are so stingy! Why can't they just answer a few of our questions, we're doing our jobs just like them!" One female reporter said to her cameraman. "I need some content!" She looked around to see if the coast was clear, "Hey, let's get in there and see what we can get."

A few others noticed her intentions and tried to warn her, but she was already about to cross the boundary into the campus. Just as her first step was about to plant down, a blaring alarm went off and a thick metal door suddenly shot out of the ground, effectively shutting any trespassers out from being able to gain entry.

One of the older reporters shook his head and pulled the young woman back. "I was gonna warn you about that, kid. These hero people are real big on security, for obvious reasons. There's no gettin' in there now. Let's get outta here."

The last few bits of media people began trickling away from the gate one by one, all passing but paying no mind to a hooded individual lurking several feet away with gaze fixated on the now locked-out entrance.

A pair of glowing-red eyes shone through the dark abyss on their shoulders, an unseen malicious grin forming on their face.

"All walls must fall in order for foundations to be built anew. Isn't that what you always told me, Sensei?"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Take your seats and quiet down. We have some things to take care of, so don't waste time." Aizawa called out as he slowly strode into the room, his class immediately obeying his instructions to avoid the no-nonsense teacher's wrath. "Now then, first things first...There is one thing that requires immediate attention, and it is extremely important for each and every single one of you moving forward."

At these words, the class grew an air of simultaneous excitement and anxiety. No one had any idea as to what Aizawa was referring to, but from their experiences from him already, they all had a feeling that it would be something crazy.

"Right here. Right now. All of you…" Desks creaked at how hard the students leaned forward in anticipation, "You are going to select a class representative." He was answered immediately with numerous face-plants on desk surfaces.

After the initial shock of such anticlimactic announcement, shouting matches began throughout the room be almost every single student making their case as to why they should be selected as 1-A's class rep.

A vein formed on Aizawa's forehead at the ruckus breaking out in his class, but before he could explode, Iida had luckily gained the attention of everyone else.

"Everyone! This is no way for up-standing students of an acclaimed institution as UA should behave! We will get nowhere with this incessant hollering among each other with no regard for anyone else's arguments!" Iida's robotic gesticulating came dangerously close to the back of Asui's head, but the girl seemed unfazed. "I declare that the only just way to go about this is to have an anonymous vote to determine who is most worthy of the position."

Iida failed to notice the irony of the fact that his other arm was still raised straight in the air from when Aizawa first declared that the class needed a rep.

"But not everyone knows each other that well yet. Wouldn't most people just vote for themselves, kero?"

"That is precisely why we should have a vote. Anyone who gets multiple votes will irrefutably be the most deserving as determined by the rest of our class!" No one seemed to object this proposition, and then turned to their sensei for a final confirmation.

Aizawa merely shrugged and began crawling into his sleeping bag, "I don't care. As long as you're done before homeroom is over."

With that, Class 1-A's Representational Election officially began.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Iida collected the last of the votes in the official 1-A Ballot Box (Momo's quirk really was the best) and made his way to the podium at the front of the room.

"Alright, now that everyone has casted their votes, I will count the votes and declare a winner." The bespectacled teen emptied the slips of paper onto the podium and the class waited with baited breath to know who would get the most votes.

"Ahem. The votes have been tallied. As of this moment, with 4 votes, our class representative is Midoriya Izuku!"

A small applause broke out for the boy, with him giving out a warm smile and walking up to the front, a firm handshake from Iida waiting for him.

"Congratulations, Midoriya-kun! I hope that you accept the role with pride and represent us well!"

"Thank you, Iida-kun. I'll do my best."

Iida turned back to the class and cleared his throat, "Now, I believe it to stand to reason that for the position of vice-representative, Midoriya-kun should appoint who he wants to work with him."

"I disagree, actually." Izuku spoke up, "I don't want it to seem that I picked any one person out of bias. That's unfair to everyone else." Ignoring the yell of anger from Bakugo that Izuku was a "Pussy that was scared to be a man and pick him", he turned to Iida, "Whoever got the second most votes deserves to be the vice-rep, at least in my opinion."

Pausing to think for a moment, Iida nodded, "That does seem like a fair way to go about it. Majority rules, after all. Well, with that being said, the person who came in second place had 3 votes. Congratulations, Yaoyorozu-kun!"

The girl at the back of the class gasped in surprise, a small blush on her face. As the rest of the class congratulated her, a smile formed on her face as she made her way to the front to join Izuku before their peers.

The greenette smiled at his new vice-rep, "Congrats, Yaoyorozu-san! I'm glad to be working with you, please take care of me!"

Momo bowed in return, "I'm looking forward to it as well. Let us work hard in representing the class."

As if on cue, Aizawa woke up from his nap, still in his sleeping bag chrysalis.

"Now that that is over with, you two will meet with the rep and vice rep of class 1-B after lunch. Homeroom is about to end, so you have free time until then." Just before he went back to his spot in the corner of the room, Aizawa whipped back around to face his class with a stoic frown, "But if I'm woken up, there _will_ be consequences."

The class had never been so silent.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

The group of Izuku, Katuski, Ochako, Momo, and Itsuka sat eating lunch together, all enjoying their own personal meals made by Lunch Rush, UA's incredible gourmet chef.

"Why the fuck didn't you pick me for vice-rep, you fucking nerd?!" Katsuki took the time between shovelling generous spoonfuls of Mapo Tofu into his mouth to chastise Izuku for his decision in homeroom earlier.

"C'mon, Kacchan. You know that wouldn't be fair. Just because I'm the class rep, it doesn't mean I can just do whatever I want."

"That's cause you're a fucking bitch! OW!" Katsuki rubbed his head where Kendo had just smacked him, "You wanna die?!"

Not even slightly fazed by Katsuki yelling right in her face, Kendo crossed her arms, "You had it coming. Stop being such a jerk." Katsuki growled, but said nothing more and went back to his lunch. As the only one not used to it, Momo looked at the orange-haired girl in awe, before leaning over to whisper in Ochako's ear.

"How did she do that?"

"Huh? Oh, Itsuka-chan is the only one besides Deku-kun that can get Bakugo-kun to listen to them. They've been like this since we met at the entrance exams."

Making an "oh" expression, Momo scratched her chin, "It seems as though making friends at the entrance exam is quite the common occurrence."

"Anyway, it's pretty cool that you got voted as rep for your class, Midoriya! We're gonna be working together a lot from now on, then!" Kendo noted with a smile.

"Ohhh, so you're 1-B's class rep, huh? It's nice to see that you're getting along so well with your classmates already, Kendo-san. I look forward to working with you."

The pair of reps shared a smile, then returned to their meals, engaging in whatever small talk the other three members of their table were currently having. A sudden shout of Izuku's name drew everyone's attention towards Iida, who was marching up to them with lunch tray in hand.

"Greetings, my peers! Would it be alright if I shared eating space with you, today?". No one seemed to have a problem with the idea, (Katsuki's outburst about it promptly ignored), so Iida sat down in the empty seat next to Kendo with a nod.

"Y'know, I'm pretty surprised you suggested we vote for class rep, Iida-kun. Didn'tcha want the job just as badly as everyone else?" Ochako wondered aloud.

"While you are correct in saying that I did desire the position, that is irrelevant. The best candidate for the position supersedes selfish wants. That's why I voted for Midoriya-kun. It was clear to me that he was most deserving."

This piece of information surprised everyone, but none more than the moss-headed class rep himself.

"Really? Wow, I don't know what to say, Iida-kun...Thank you very much for your confidence in me. Wait…I wonder who else voted for me then?" Izuku turned to the other members of his table to observe a "nonchalantly" whistling Ochako, an angrily pouting Katsuki, and a bashful looking Momo. "All of you guys?"

Before any of them could reply, a blaring alarm suddenly began pouring out of the PA system. Almost immediately, students began clamouring about, panicking about what in the world was going on.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Kendo's voice was barely audible over the deafening screech of the alarm mixed with the mass hysteria that overtook the cafeteria.

Next to their table, another group of students had just recovered from the shock of the alarm first sounding off and were preparing to leave. "You guys are first years, right?! That alarm means there's an intruder!" He screamed before following his companions before the exit. That was enough of an explanation for Izuku and co. at the moment for them to pull themselves out of shock and make for the nearest exit themselves.

They managed to get out into the hallway, but their success ended there, as they all swiftly got swept up into the sea of bodies that could have well been threatening to burst out of the building's walls.

He had no idea when or how it had happened, but Izuku had found himself bumped and jostled around enough where he had gotten close enough to the window to see out of it to the grounds below. "Aren't those the reporters from this morning?!" Squeezing through bodies, Izuku winced at the elbows and knees being thrown at him from all directions, stumbling around until he bumped into a familiar jet-black ponytail a few inches above his eyeline next to a much shorter brunette bob, the pair trying their best to not get hit by the countless limbs and torsos being thrown around. "Yaoyorozu-san?! Uraraka-san?!"

"Midoriya-san! It's impossible for anyone to get anywhere! What should we do?!"

Grunting in effort, Izuku finally managed to pull himself completely free of the crowd and got him and Momo just enough personal space so that they could stand straight. "I saw what was going on, the press from this morning somehow managed to get onto the school grounds! I need to get everyone's attention somehow!" He racked his brain for an idea as fast as he could before the panicked mosh-pit started back up, ' _Come on, think! Think!_ ' Just as the pushing and shoving began once more, The 9th wielder of One For All activated his passed-down quirk just enough so that he was able to jump above the sea of students, allowing him a few seconds of looking around to gauge the situation. "Guess I have no choice…Good thing I remembered to wear my suit under my uniform today." Utilising his natural-born quirk this time, Izuku morphed into the form of a howler monkey, perching himself on the top of the frame of the doorway, his UA uniform left billowing in the air thanks to his swift movements.

"HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO!"

The guttural screeching that emanated from Izuku's monkey throat stopped every single student dead in their tracks. Anyone who thought their ears were safe when the school's intruder alarm finally subsided where rudely awakened, but the oral assault had its intended results in gaining undivided attention.

Not squandering this opportunity, Izuku reverted and stood up on the frame, hands cupped around his mouth as a makeshift megaphone.

"Guys, it's just the press! Take it easy, there's no intruders!"

The crowd took in his words and the chaos died down considerably. Izuku sighed in relief when the mob began to disperse and go back to their business. Leaping back onto the floor, he was shocked when several of his classmates ran up to him, praising him for his handling of the situation.

"Dude, that was so manly, Midoriya! You totally handled that like a champ!" Kirishima threw his arm around Izuku and gave him a toothy grin, "That's our class rep for ya!"

Coming up on his other side, Mina gushed at the greenette about his animal transformation, "Midoriya that monkey form is totally cute! How could you hide such a sick part of your quirk from us?!"

"That actually reminds me, kero." Everyone turned to Asui, who had her tongue slightly hanging out of her mouth and an inquisitive index finger resting on her chin, "When you use your quirk, what happens to your suit, Midoriya-chan?"

The question that the amphibious girl posed had everyone's eyes widen in surprise and they all turned to Izuku with equal wonderment and curiosity.

"Hey, what does happen to your suit? I figured that you wore that suit of yours cause it was made of some kinda special thread or something that wouldn't rip when you transformed...But when you become an animal, you're not wearing anything…" This insight from Uraraka only aided in fuelling the flames under the hot seat that the green-headed dual-quirk user had suddenly found himself on. To be far, it was an entirely reasonable line of questioning to have. Izuku wore his suit when he was in his human form, and whenever he used his animorph quirk and transformed into any animal, he was somehow not wearing his suit until he became human again.

Did his transformation cause some sort of rift in space that somehow managed to suck off his costume any time that he turned into an animal? Was there some sort of spiritual link between Izuku and his suit that allowed him to call on it any time that he wanted, like it was some sort of sentient being? The possibilities were endless, these questions and countless more running rampant throughout Izuku's classmates as they stood on edge for any semblance of an explanation for this enigmatic phenomenon from the man himself.

Izuku sighed deeply to himself, "Alright, I guess there's no avoiding it. I know, it's a really weird phenomenon. One second my suit is there, I use animorph—Poof! It's gone. I turn back—Poof! It's there again. Well, the truth is…" The anticipation among the group was almost palpable. "I don't actually know what happens to my suit." The disappointed face-faulting that followed was _definitely_ palpable. "But I am glad for whatever the hell keeps my suit. I used to always be naked after using my quirk."

Somewhere on the other side of UA's campus, a certain large and muscular blonde let out a sneeze.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Outside of UA's main building, Nezu, Aizawa, Hound Dog and Ectoplasm stood at the front gate, or what remained of it rather, all with varying expressions of suspicion and disconcertment on their faces.

"I'm sure we all know that no mere news reporters would be capable of something like this. A particularly volatile quirk would have to be possessed to completely destroy the 6 inch thick steel door that once stood here." The principal explained. He paced back and forth with his arms behind his back, "This was either some kind of random act of quirk abuse in public...Or some kind of targeted attack."

"The latter is much more plausible, I'm sure that is clear." Aizawa idly commented, hands dug into his saggy pockets as he kicked at a small pile of dust that once formed part of the school's gate, "Whoever did this certainly succeeded in sending a message, but the question is, what exactly were they trying to tell us?"

"Well said, Eraser. Principal, how shall we proceed from here?" Ectoplasm asked.

Turning to the math teacher with his usual smile, Nezu shook his head, "The only thing we can do. Continue as usual, at least on the surface. This issue is surely something that needs to be investigated, but there is no reason to alarm out students or bring any unwanted attention to it. We proceed with things as planned, and move in stride if any other issues arise. The last thing we want to do is show some sort of weakness that may invite any individuals to our doorstep bringing trouble."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:**

 **Back from the dead, motherfuckers.**

 **Okay listen, I know what you're gonna say. I been a real piece of shit.**

 **It's been...A long time.**

 **But all that matters is that I'm back! With a new chapter!**

 **So, what's new with you guys?**

 **I've been good, been busy. So much has happened. Where do I start?**

 **The Toronto Raptors won the NBA championship this summer. That was a dream come true.**

 **I have been heavy heavy HEAVY into a couple of series. Namely, Seven Deadly Sins, We Never Learn, and I still have a bunch more to look into.**

 **Went back to school again after taking off a while to work and find myself and all that bullshit, you know how it goes.**

 **Honestly, it's been so long that I don't remember what it is I have to tell you guys. Ah well.**

 **Enjoy the chapter, and hopefully I'll be back again before you know it!**

* * *

After the chaotic ordeal that was the lunchtime incident, classes returned to normal quite quickly.

It was to be expected, after all. A school entirely dedicated to fostering individuals that would be the first responders to crises would have to be able to reign in excitement and return to business as usual as if nothing had happened in the first place.

As per their duties as class 1-A's rep and vice-rep, Izuku and Momo had hastily made their way to the first-year's student council room, where the inaugural first-year rep meeting was to be held. Being the last ones to arrive, all eyes were on the pair from 1-A as they took their seats.

"I'm terribly sorry that we kept you waiting." Momo politely greeted with a bow of her head, her action mirrored by Izuku.

"Ah, don't worry about it, we haven't waited that long. And now that everyone is here, we can get started." Itsuka began, "This meeting is just a formality of sorts. A chance for us to get to know each other and start relationships among the first-year classes so we can all get along." Standing up out of her seat for a moment, the orangette faced the rest of the reps with a bow, "My name is Kendo Itsuka, rep of class 1-B. And this is my vice-rep, Shiozaki Ibara." Said vine-headed girl at Itsuka's side gave the room a dip of her head.

Directly across from Kendo, one student scoffed, leaning back in his chair with his arms folded behind the messy indigo hair that stuck out of his head in every direction. Through his tired-looking and half-lidded eyes, he gazed sharply at the four hero course students.

"You're wasting your time."

With furrowed brows, Kendo crossed her arms in indignation, "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Take a look around. There's 4 of you for 2 hero course classes. There's 3 gen-ed classes, and yet me and her are the only ones here." He stuck a thumb to his left, causing the petite blonde-haired girl with pigtails sitting next to him to squeak and bury her face in her shirt collar. "There's 3 support classes and they only have 1 person here."

"Heyo!" A girl with pink dreadlocks hollered, not even looking up from the contraption in her hands with which she was doing who knows what.

"Same thing with the business course. It's just that guy." Said guy, sitting to his right, put his phone call on hold to give everyone else an annoyed expression before returning to his private conversation. "You hero-course kids have all the power at UA and get all the special treatment, so why would any of us wanna be friends with you? Spare me." The purple-haired boy stood abruptly and made for the door, but paused and looked over his shoulder, "As far as I'm concerned, all you hero-course kids are the only things keeping people like us from getting anywhere."

"S-Shinso-kun!" The small blonde quietly yelled to the exiting teen, her timid voice muffled by her collar.

"Oh, we're done? Cool, later!" The pink-haired tinkerer leaped out of her seat and dashed out the door, not once looking up from the work in her hands.

"Well, this has been about as productive as I thought it would be. If you'll excuse me." Once the business course rep left, the 4 hero-course students shared downtrodden expressions.

"U-Umm...E-Excuse me…" Everyone turned to the remaining gen-ed student, who blushed at all of the eyes on her and began poking her fingers together nervously, "I'm s-sorry for Shinso-kun's behaviour! Most people in general education have a grudge against the hero course because they didn't make it in." Almost jumping out of her seat in realization, the girl bowed her head up and down repeatedly, "I-I-I'm Futaba Kaede, it's n-nice to m-m-m-meet you!"

"You don't have a problem with the hero course like your classmate, Futaba-san?" Momo asked.

The blonde shook her head, pigtails flopping to and fro, "I-I never had any dreams to be a hero, exactly...And you hav-haven't done anything that seems arrogant or elitist, so I don't have a r-r-reason to hate you..."

Sharing a few looks with each other, the four hero students gave the girl friendly grins.

"B-But, I should probably go back to class. It w-w-was nice to meet you all." She said before briskly exiting the room.

"I feel like she reminds me of someone familiar…Like the timidness, the super politeness, the stuttering..." Izuku stopped his pondering at the odd looks from the other three remaining students in the room, "Just thinking out loud, don't worry about it."

"Yeah, well...I guess there's no use in sitting around here anymore. We should probably get back to class, too." Kendo's shoulders slumped as she and Ibara stood up, bidding the remaining reps in the room farewell before heading off towards their own classroom.

"Well, I suppose that could have gone better." Momo turned to Izuku with a weak grin, "I'll give you credit. You have made two enemies in our first 2 days of class. That must be some sort of record, Midoriya-san."

The boy let out a groan, "Tell me about it."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Alright, now that Midoriya and Yaoyorozu have returned, we can carry on with what is planned for today." Aizawa pulled himself out of his sleeping bag and lazily stood before his students, "For today's training, we're gonna do things a bit differently than the battle training. In addition to All Might, myself and another staff member will be overseeing you. Today's focus is...Rescue! You'll be learning how to deal with natural disasters, fires, and other emergency situations like that."

"Rescue work, eh? This is the real deal! Bonafide hero work that separates the champs from the chumps! I'm so pumped, bro!" Kirishima was practically shaking with excitement, most of his peers in a similar state.

"I finally get to show off my talents in water-based hero situations, kero."

Before the excited chatter could get out of hand, a quick 'shut the hell up or you and the next 100 generations of your family are going to regret it' stare from Aizawa kept the teens in check.

"If you so choose, you can wear your costume to the training session. The facility that we will be using for the training is an off-campus site, so get yourselves ready and meet out front where the bus will be waiting. That is all."

As the class left their seats and began to prepare themselves for the training that was to come, Iida, somehow _already_ in his hero costume, ran back and forth across the room pestering people to get ready.

"My peers, it is of utmost importance that we waste as little time as possible in readying ourselves! Such is our onus to optimize our efficiency to the fullest in order to 'get her done' as they say!"

Giggling at Iida's eccentric behaviour, Izuku and Ochako came up to their friend, carrying their hero costume cases.

"Say, Iida-kun I've been meaning to ask...The way you talk...You're like a rich kid, aren't you?"

Ochako's, erm, _delicate_ phrasing caused Izuku to palm his face and Iida to falter in shock.

Recovering himself, Iida gave a weak chuckle and vigorously pushed up his glasses, "W-Well, it isn't something I care to brag about to others, especially not my peers, but yes...I come from a family of heroes!"

"Really?!" Izuku and Ochako both lit up like kids at Christmas at learning that their classmate belonged to such a family and they stared at him expectantly.

"Yes! You see, the Iida family has housed heroes for several generations, utilizing our engine quirks to thwart evil and fight for justice! It runs in our blood!"

The pair tried their best to stifle their giggling at Iida's unintentional pun, letting out a few squeaks in the process. However, Iida was retelling his family history so passionately, it didn't seem to faze him in the slightest.

"Are either of you two familiar with the Turbo Hero, Ingenium?"

Izuku's mouth fell open and he pointed directly at his blue-haired friend, "You mean the crazy popular pro-hero who has 65 sidekicks under his wing at his agency based in Tokyo?! Iida-kun...You don't mean…"

"That's right!" Iida shouted, chest puffed out proudly, "Ingenium is my elder brother! He is an unmatched commander who carries the true values of a hero with the utmost pride and honour. As the second son in my family, I strive to be just like him…" The look of sheer admiration in Iida's eyes brought bright smiles to his friends' faces, but just as quickly, he reverted back into his previous mode. "But enough reminiscing, we must get ready for the bus, posthaste!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

As the entirety of class 1-A already had first-hand experience with, UA was not an everyday high school that entailed cliche high school moments most of the time. On the rare occasion that something typical of regular high schools happened, however, it would stand to reason that the students would do their best to enjoy it to the fullest.

That is why, much to Aizawa's irritation, the bus was filled with chatter and conversations of every variety as it traveled down the road towards its destination.

One conversation, in particular, seemed to catch the attention of more and more people on the bus as it went on. At the centre of it all, was none other than Izuku.

"So, Midoriya-chan." Asui began, her stoney expression masking the curiosity brimming from her froggy head, "I didn't get the chance before to ask, kero. Your quirk is really amazing, isn't it? Do you mind telling me how it works?"

If only for a second, Izuku felt his insides drop. He thanked his lucky stars that no one had noticed or picked up on any connection that he may have to the world's Number 1 Hero, but it didn't mean that he wasn't on edge about it from time to time. After that close call with Katsuki, Izuku made extra careful to try and not reveal anything about his relationship with his mentor, and he thought he did a pretty good job so far. After his momentary panic at Asui's question, he managed to calm himself and remain composed. "Is there anything in particular that you want to know about it?" He was convinced that he sounded at least mostly nonchalant.

"Well, from a first glance, most people would think that your quirk is just you being able to transform into animals, but we've all seen that you're capable of a lot more than those animals usually would be. How are you so powerful?"

It was one of the several questions that Izuku was very much not looking forward to being asked. And being wedged between everyone on the bus, there wasn't anywhere for him to run away.

Could he simply take a page out of mentor's book and just laugh off the line of questioning in hopes that it gets brushed past?

Nah, his classmates weren't simpletons. Kacchan was suspicious enough as it was, so doing something weird or awkward like that would definitely raise more questions than it would answer. Izuku needed to be creative, cunning, and more than anything else, talking out of his ass like no tomorrow if he was going to diffuse curiosity around his abilities.

"Well, Asui-san…"

"Call me Tsu-chan, kero."

"Right. Tsu-chan…As you know, quirks are a part of who we are...Like it's in our DNA and stuff...And, uhhh...You know, with quirks...My quirk...There's always these things you can do to...Y'know…" The more and more Izuku's incessant and incoherent rambling went on, the more and more nervous he got under the increasingly confused faces from his peers. "Quirks, haha, those crazy things...Getting stronger and using my quirk...How am I so powerful, huh? That sure is a question—"

"Quiet down and get your things ready. We're here." All eyes turned to Aizawa, who was staring at the group of students lazily from his driver's seat at the front of the bus. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

As everyone around him leapt to their feet and hurried to the front of the bus, Izuku slumped into a puddle of pure stress in his seat. ' _How does All Might bullshit to the entire world so easily everyday?!_ '

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

When Aizawa said they would be going to one of UA's training facilities, most of Class 1-A had expected something along the lines of a gymnasium or maybe some sort of stadium. Hell, even a couple simulated environments wouldn't be completely crazy for a school like UA to pull off.

But not one of the students expected _anything_ like what their Sensei had just led them inside of.

It was almost quite literally as if they had all set foot into an entirely different world. The 'training facility' consisted of an enormous dome so large that the far end of it couldn't be seen from where they were standing. Circling the inner perimeter of the dome were several different unique areas, all appearing to be simulations of different disasters or crises that heroes may face in any given emergency situation.

Paying no mind to the flabbergasted expressions that painted the faces of his students, Aizawa took a few steps forward towards the massive set of stone steps that led down to the disaster areas below and spun around on his heels back towards the teens.

"Welcome to the USJ, AKA the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. As I said before, here at this facility, you will have access to all that you may need in preparing yourself for future issues you might see in the foreseeable future. This kind of hero work isn't exactly my area of expertise, plus all this talking is a pain in my rear, so to go into a bit of deeper detail on the goal of this training session, one of the other teachers here today will talk to you lot."

Just at that moment, a person appeared out of one of the corridors adjacent to the front entrance, waving to all of the students in glee.

"Hello everyone! I've been waiting for you!" The androgynous voice called out, slightly muffled by the blacked out helmet on their puffy spacesuit. "I hope you're all ready for a great training session today!"

Excited murmuring immediately broke out among the group of students, none more prominent than that of Ochako and Izuku.

"Whoa, it's the Space Hero, Thirteen!" Izuku remarked, eyes lit up in awe.

"Oh my god! Thirteen is like my favourite hero ever in the whole wide world!" Ochako exclaimed. The brunette pumped a fist in the air with a wide grin on her face, "The chivalrous hero that's saved thousands of people from all kinds of disasters around the globe! This is the best day ever!"

For a moment, Izuku was quite taken aback at Ochako's otaku-like outburst. ' _Man, so is that what I'm like when I do it?'_

Next to the greenette, Katsuki shuddered in disgust and ground his teeth as he turned away from Ochako, ' _Christ alive, the nerd's fucking dweeb disease is spreading…'_

Thirteen bowed gracefully at Ochako's praise, but quickly rose back up and clapped their hands together, getting the students' attention. "If you'll all follow me for a moment…" Leading them to the edge of the large staircase that led down to the various sites, Thirteen turned on their heel and stuck their hand up to begin counting, "A shipwreck, a landslide, a fire, a wind/rainstorm, and many more. These are the areas available to you all today here at the USJ! I created this training facility to help students learn to deal with all types of disasters." Twirling around like a ballerina, Thirteen excitedly pointed at the students, "Now who's ready to get to work and do some saving?!"

In his usual uncaring self, Aizawa nonchalantly interrupted Thirteen's pose as he walked up to them with his hands in his pockets, "Hey, Thirteen. Wasn't All Might supposed to be here already? Lemme guess, he decided to make a TV appearance and remodel his private jet instead."

"Actually…" Thirteen's hushed tone of seriousness got a quirked eyebrow from Aizawa, "This morning, All Might did a little too much hero work and ended up hitting his limit for the day…He's resting back at school in the teachers' lounge."

Letting out an almost superhuman length of a sigh, Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance, "I swear, that man is the pinnacle of irresponsibility. The world's number one hero, not even able to save himself for his duties." Glancing over at his expectant students, he internally shrugged, ' _I guess things shouldn't be too much for the two of us to handle. As long as nothing too crazy happens…Still, how hectic could things have been for All Might to use three hours worth of strength this morning?'_

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

 _ **Earlier that morning**_

If there was one thing that people absolutely hated with a fiery passion, and if able, would obliterate in its entirety from existence; It would undoubtedly be the morning commute.

What redeeming qualities does this dastardly daily trip have? None, whatsoever! The sea of bodies moving to and from throughout the streets and subway stations. The ungodly hour at which the trips are being taken. The destination themselves of where these pour souls are going off to. Yuck.

Now for some, morning commutes aren't all that bad. Like if, let's say, a person had a unique means of transportation that allowed them to completely avoid the human traffic and general 'blegh-ness' that accompanied it. And for the sake of argument, let's also say that this mode of transportation was much faster than taking the subway, so in addition to being able to enjoy the luxury of personal space, it also allowed for a much shorter trip. To that, one might say, "There's no way in hell that someone is capable of that! That's ridiculous!".

" **I AM SOARING THROUGH THE AIR LIKE A HERO ON MY WAY TO SCHOOL!** "

Well, when you live in a world full of superhuman heroes, especially a world that includes someone like All Might...The idea of 'ridiculous' tends to be thrown out the window.

If there was one thing All Might had learned in his many years of saving the day from every threat to world peace imaginable; It was that life, especially the little things, should never be taken for granted for even a single second. This was why the Number 1 Hero could be seen leaping across the rooftops in the direction of UA, feeling the crisp morning air and the encroaching rays of sunlight on his skin.

All Might was well aware of his injury and the strain it caused on his body and ability to use OFA. Although, he found it important to use it in times like these as sort of calisthenics in order to maintain his edge and keep from getting rusty. Plus… he wasn't about to sit on the subway and deal with that monsoon of people! He was All Might for All Might's sake!

Besides, it wasn't like anything major was going to happen that the other pros on morning patrols couldn't handle without him stepping in. What were the odds of that happ—

"Look out! That guy is on a rampage and none of the pros here can stop him!"

...Okay. Bad luck there. All Might skidded to a halt and peered over the roof of the apartment building he was standing on top of to see a large pink...man...thing? Running down the street and causing mayhem as he went. The blonde hero sighed to himself as he saw a pack of pros chasing after him followed by several police cars as well. " **Looks like duty calls! This shouldn't be too bad, I could still make it in time to get a snack before homeroom starts!** " Taking a few moments to limber up, All Might sprang off of the roof and rocketed down towards the street below. Evil awaited!

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Stay back, you assholes! I swear I'll kill these shrimps if you come any closer! These fucks are gonna feel the wrath of Trapezius Head Gear!"

The once busy street was now devoid of all people, save the pink villain, his hostages, and several pro heroes desperately trying to stop him.

The massive villain, his muscular arm slowly tightening around the terrified civilians in his grip, scowled at the heroes that were slowly edging towards him. "Stay the fuck back!". Using his free arm, he picked up a small car parked on the curb and wildly chucked it in the direction of his foes.

At the head of the pack of heroes was Takeyama Yu; AKA Mt. Lady. She was very, very, _very_ frustrated at the entire morning that she was having up until this point. First, she had to see that old bitch Midnight on TV doing some bullshit talk show. Yu could practically smell the desperation coming off her saggy whore body as she pandered to the horny male audiences that kept her mediocre hero career afloat. If that wasn't bad enough, she now had to chase around the giant pink eraser in the leather biker outfit who was hellbent on being an asshole to the general public for shits and giggles. And just for an added cherry on top of the horse shit sundae, this oversized wad of gum just _had_ to lead her down a street that was too narrow for her to use her quirk. The blonde novice hero _really_ regretted not fine-tuning her quirk more at UA because she could've sworn this happened every other goddamn day. Stupid small japanese streets.

"This asshole is getting on my last nerve!" Yu yelled, "Kamui! You wanna handle him?"

Said wooden hero scoffed in derision at her, "Are you sure you aren't keen on poaching this villain capture to yourself again?"

Yu rolled her eyes and sassily put a hand on her hip, "How many times are you going to bring that up? Don't be such a stick in the mud. You were already on the up and up, so why not share some of the glory for a fresh on the scene hero like lil' old me?" She smirked at the irked expression he took on, amused by how easy it was to get under his skin...or bark...whatever...He's made of wood, okay? "Anyway, you think you can get the drop on him, or what?"

"I might have an opening, but I really don't think it's a good idea, what with the hostages he has in such a position. Death Arms just got done talking to the hostage unit and they should be having a sniper set up any minute now."

"HEY TWIGGY! Are you and the hooker with the horns done talking?! Get the fuck away before I squish these people to fucking dust!" Kamui palmed his face at the villain's word, because in 3...2...1…

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU CALL ME YOU GLORIFIED KIRBY LOOKIN' MOTHERFUCKER! I'LL KILL YOU!" It took every fiber in Yu's being to not just say 'fuck it' and use her quirk to stomp this son of a bitch like the insect he was, partly because she would be risking the innocent lives at stake; But mostly because she really didn't have the money to pay for _another_ city block that had to be repaired because of her.

Thankfully, before Yu could do anything rash, several wooden tendrils wrapped her arms and waist to keep her in place, "Mt. Lady! Calm down!" Jesus this woman was strong! One would think Kamui would be able to hold Mt. Lady back when she wasn't using her quirk, but somehow his dense wooden limbs were somehow losing to her in her state of anger. "Yu! Control yourself! You're jeopardizing the safety of those civilians!" Those words managed to reach the fuming woman and she stopped trying to pull out of Kamui's grasp.

Thoroughly fed up with the annoying antics of the heroes before him, Trapezius grit his teeth in anger; He had had it! "That's it, you fucks! I'm tired of this! You had your chance to back off, and now these people are gonna get it!" Just as he was about to squeeze the life out of the poor people in his grip, a large shadow above him made him stop in confusion.

All eyes went upwards at the large mass hurtling towards them at breakneck speed. But no one could clearly make out who or what it was due to the glare of the sun directly behind it.

" **HAVE NO FEAR! FOR I AM HERE!** "

The voice was unmistakable. That booming yell that was the bane of all evil doers and the savior to all supporters of peace and justice. Mt. Lady and Kamui's spirits lifted as they say the idol of all heroes land on the ground with an epic slam directly before the villain that had been causing so much trouble.

Slowly rising from the cloud of dust that had been created via his impact onto the street, All Might's shining blue eyes twinkled before he zoomed forward at breakneck speed. The large pink villain had barely a moment to blink before he suddenly found himself empty handed.

Whipping his trapezoidal head around, he saw the Symbol of Peace holding all of the hostages safely in his arms, giving him a smile that sent shivers down his spine.

" **Now that these innocents are out of harm's way...Fiend!** **Prepare yourself!** "

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

" **Here you are!** "

Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods both graciously accepted the bottles of water from All Might, fresh off of their preliminary report of the villain incident to the police department. It was an impressive sight to see the world's number 1 hero fighting evil from so close, and the pair of young adults could still feel the occasional goosebump as they watched the giant of a man talking amicably with one of the detectives that had just arrived on the scene.

Sighing deeply in exhaustion, Yu leaned back on the hood of the squad car, "You don't know how glad I am for this whole thing to be dealt with. God, I could use a massage. What do you say we go to the onsen this weekend?" Confused by the lack of response, Yu lazily raised her head only to see the head of her Hero Agency staring off into space, elbows firmly rested on his knees, "Kamui, what's the matter?"

After a few moments of silence, he sat up straight and sighed. Yu couldn't see his eyes because he was facing forward, and his mask made it otherwise impossible to read his expression. "Shinji? Shin-kun? Are you okay?" Yu put a comforting hand on his shoulder, only to face fault when he turned to her with comical tears spilling down his wooden mask.

"All Might is...so cool!" He loudly whispered, gripping onto Mt. Lady's shoulders as if his life depended on it. "I never saw him fight in person before!"

The blonde stared at him with a deadpan expression, at a loss for words. "A-Are you for real right now?"

Instantly reverting back to his usual demeanour, Kamui tilted his head in confusion, "How do you mean?"

Yu's brow trembled furiously, and she shoved Kamui off of her by his mask before storming off. "You idiot!"

As Kamui chased after a fuming Mt. Lady trying to plead his case with her, All Might watched them with a bemused expression. " **Ah, to be young and in love. Now what was it that you were saying again, Tsukauchi-kun?** "

The man next to him, a tall man dressed in a beige trench coat over his suit, smiled as he pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his coat's breast pocket. "I just wanted to see how you were doing, Toshi. There's been a ton of talk at the precinct about all the work you've been doing lately." He paused to pull a single cigarette out of the pack, lighting it in his mouth. Tsukauchi took a long drag, slowly blowing the smoke out of his nostrils. "You sure it's alright for you to be fighting crime so much? What with your condition and all?"

" **Of course, of course! I've never felt better, my dear friend!** " All Might puffed his chest out proudly. " **I could do this all day!** " He did his best to seem convincing, but the look that Tsukauchi was giving him made him more nervous by the second. Beads of sweat began rolling down his face as his friend slowly began pulling one of his gloves off of his hands. " **...I...I swear, I...Alright!** "

Just as Tsukauchi was about to make contact on All Might with his bare hands, the Symbol of Peace gave in, sighing heavily as his shoulders slumped over. " **There's no need to go that far, Tsukauchi-kun, I get it. I know the kind of state I'm in will only get worse the more I push the envelope...But what else am I supposed to do? I can't just possess what I do and just...Not do anything with it! It would spit on those who came before me...It would shame the legacy that my Master built for me…"**

"Yeah, yeah...I've heard it all before." Taking another drag from his cigarette, Tsukauchi screwed his eyes shut in thought. "Tell ya what...I won't try and stop you from doing all this stuff, because that would be like me trying to stop you from being you. But, in return...Tell me how things are from time to time, yeah? This lame detective wouldn't mind hearing the ordeals of the great and oh so magnificent All Might."

" **I...think I can manage that.** " Both men's attention quickly turned to the fact that All Might had begun steaming slightly, " **Ah ha, I suppose that is my cue. Farewell!** "

As Tsukauchi watched the Symbol of Peace leap off towards UA, he couldn't shake the worry in the back of his mind, "I sure hope you can manage, Toshi…"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

 **Present time**

"Alright, now that you've all been briefed in detail about exactly what is at your disposal here today, we should be ready to go. Time is of the essence, so let's not waste any more time standing around." Aizawa did his best to not groan at the excitement brimming off of his students. It showed at least that they were going to work hard, he supposed. "Thirteen?"

"Of course! Just let me get things going here. We have a state of the art AI system here designed to track your activity and tell us how you're doing. Just let me get it up and running…" Walking over to a large lever on the wall, Thirteen flipped it with gusto, "Behold!"

After a few seconds of nothing happening, they stared curiously at the lever. "Odd…" Flipping it back and forth several times, Thirteen grew increasingly frustrated, grunting in annoyance as they slammed the lever up and down, "Turn. On. You. Dumb. Machine!" On the last flip, mechanical whirring resonated throughout the dome, causing the group to let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Okay, now that that's over—" Aizawa was abruptly cut off by a sharp crackle of electricity before all of the lights in the USJ shut off.

He turned with a sharp gaze towards Thirteen, who seemed just as alarmed has he was. Cursing to himself, he looked towards the centre of the room, where the air seemed to be warping ominously.

Suddenly, a large mass of darkness appeared out of thin air, expanding rapidly to the as a sharp pair of glowing yellow eyes formed near its peak. As the black matter continued to expand across the centre square of the USJ, the silhouettes of bodies began coming into view, populating the once empty space by the dozens.

"What's going on? Is this part of the training?"

"No!" Aizawa's yell caught the class off guard as the pro hero made a mad dash for the top of the stairs leading down to the square. "This isn't part of the training. Those are real villains."

20 pairs of eyes widened in shock. What was supposed to be a fulfilling educational experience, suddenly turned into a catastrophe.

Izuku couldn't help his body from shaking, his throat suddenly dryer than it had ever been in his young life. The anxiety that had instantly built up within himself and his classmates was palpable, and no one could find the will to utter a word in response to their teacher's revelation.

At the centre of the vortex emerged a lanky, hunched over figure dressed in all black. The man raised his head, his piercing red eyes shining past the severed hand covering his face; One of the several severed hands attached to his person.

Directly beside him was a massive humanoid being with some sort of malformed bird-like face. The beast tilted its head to and fro, enormous muscles rippling as it moved.

"I see the pro heroes Eraser Head and Thirteen, but according to the intel that we obtained, All Might was supposed to be at this session as well." The ominous voice of the dark mist spoke, glowing yellow eyes appearing as the mist took on the silhouette of a head.

Looking to either side of himself at the literal mob of villains that had begun trudging out of the dark mist, the lanky man grunted to himself, "Hey, you're right...I even went to the trouble of bringing all these friends who oh so very badly wanted to meet him. Well I bet if we kill some of those kids up there he might show. Let's have a little fun, shall we? Game start!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

This was bad. This was very _very_ bad.

This had to be the worst thing that could've happened today. Trying to manage a bunch of rambunctious teenagers was one thing. That was a task in of itself.

So why? Why the hell did this group of villains just have to show up and make things into an actual problem?

Taking no more than a split second to curse his luck, Aizawa sprang into action, goggles already on his face and scarf already beginning to unravel. "Thirteen! Protect the students! I'll deal with the riff raff down there!"

"But Sensei! There's way too many villains down there for you to handle! Your quirk can't work on more than one person at a time, so it's ideal for one-on-one combat or ambushes. How are you going to take on that mob all by yourself?!"

"Please, Midoriya. No real hero is a one trick pony. Stay here with your classmates where it's safe!". With that, the scraggy pro leapt down towards the square, making a straight shot for the nearest group of villains.

Not letting Aizawa be the only pro hero in action, Thirteen began corralling the students to ensure that everyone was together and accounted for. "You heard Eraser, let's move!"

But before the pro could move their students to the exit, the same mass of black fog that had brought the group of villains to the USJ in the first place suddenly appeared before them.

"I'm afraid that cannot be allowed. You see, aside from being responsible for transporting all of those unsavoury characters to this facility, I have been tasked with ensuring that no one, UA student or pro hero, is to exit the premises. I'm sure you understand."

Slowly backpedaling along with their students, Thirteen narrowed their eyes, "What exactly is it that you're trying to achieve here?"

"Now, now space hero. I do believe that you are in no position to be the one asking questions under these circumstances. What I would like to know is why you all seem to be short one Symbol of Peace here today. We, the League Of Villains, went through all this just for him, and he fails to even be here? Now how in the world are we supposed to put an end to All Might and kill him without him being here, hmm?" His black mist slowly increased in size, expanding across the class' direct path to the exit, "Well, I suppose in the end it doesn't particularly matter, I still have a duty to fulfill."

Before Thirteen could take action, Bakugo and Kirishima decided to take matters into their own hands, launching a simultaneous attack at the mist villain.

As the smoke from Bakugo's explosion began to dissipate, the pair of boys had on confident smirks.

"If you thought that we were just gonna stand there and let you monologue, then you got another thing co—" Kirishima's quip died in his throat when the mist-man reappeared, completely unscathed.

"You truly are heroes in the making, aren't you." The man's 'head' reformed, a large metal brace now floating on his 'body', "But be careful little boys and girls...Or someone might get hurt!"

"Bakugo, Kirishima! Get back, now!" Thirteen's warning came a moment too late, as darkness slowly began to encroach on them.

"Prepare yourselves, children. I'll scatter you across this facility to meet all of the fine companions we've brought here today...and your doom!" The dark mist then shot out at breakneck speed, enveloping the teens in the blink of an eye.

Being at the edge of the group, several of the students were able to avoid being swallowed up by the black mist, but as the darkness receded, it was revealed that more than half of the class had gone missing.

"Now then," The villain narrowed his glowing yellow eyes, "I suppose that should suffice for the moment. What say you, Thirteen?"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

 **Back at UA**

"Hmm, no answer again."

All Might had been trying to call Aizawa or Thirteen at the USJ for over 10 minutes, and he was starting to get worried. Then again, they were teaching.

The Symbol of Peace found himself quite ansty, partly from the fact that he had no way to communicate with his colleagues; But mostly because he was stuck on the couch in the teacher's lounge because he'd overused OFA again.

"I can't keep neglecting my duty as a teacher to spend my morning commutes being heroic. Come on, Toshinori! Amatuer hour!" He let out a deep sigh, "Maybe I can show up at the end and give them some kind of inspiring speech about justice or something...Try and squeeze a good 10 more minutes out of my hero form!" Finding a moment of energy, Yagi leapt to his feet, suddenly enlarging to his muscular form, letting out a hearty laugh that just as quickly turned into a bloody cough as he re-deflated.

As the blonde hero was knee deep in sulking, the door slid open to reveal Principal Nezu, smiling warmly at him with his hand behind his back, "Well, hello there All Might."

"Principal Nezu! F-Fancy meeting you here!"

The mouse/dog/bear...thing strolled into the room and calmly slid the door shut behind him, "You really haven't changed a bit after all these years, have you? I know it can't be helped that you want to jump to the rescue any chance you get, but don't you think you need to be a bit more mindful of when and where you're using the remains of your power?" Pacing back and forth, Nezu finally stopped and sat down on the couch opposite of All Might. "Now, I think you should stay here and rest a bit longer. Why don't you have some tea and you can listen to my patented Plus Ultra long lesson about ethical quirk use in and its impact on the postage stamp."

"You really haven't changed much either, sir…"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

 **Back at the USJ**

 _ **Shipwreck Zone**_

"Oh Kami, I'm gonna die a virgin!"

Mineta had really just about had it.

UA High was supposed to be _his_ time.

He was supposed to be having the time of his life. He was finally free from his parents to do as he wanted and taste all the flavours of female that UA had to offer.

But, no. Instead of his perfect high school experience that was totally plausible and could've definitely happened, he got shafted at every corner.

First, he gets put in the same room in the prudest of all prudes. The stickler of all sticklers. Iida put up a damn FAMILY SAFE SEARCH ENGINE SOFTWARE on his computer for All Might's sake!

Then, that stupid lucky bastard Midoriya gets to witness the mother of all holy grails that was Yaoyorozu's Yaoyoroobies.

And now they were being attacked by villains!

Not, robots. Not training dummies.

Real. fucking. _Villains_.

What the hell was he supposed to do?

Finally landing in the water after being spat out of the portal that had sucked him up, Mineta opened his eyes to see a villain zooming towards him. Letting out a gurgling scream, the boy frantically flailed his tiny limbs around, hoping to get at least an inch away from the shark-man quickly advancing on him.

"Sorry little guy, it's nothing personal, but you're fish food!" Just as the villain opened his jaw, primed to take a bite out of Mineta with his razor sharp teeth, a pressure wave rippled through the water, hitting the villain head on and sending him reeling backwards.

Using this window, Mineta swam as fast as he could to the surface, gasping for air as his head had breached.

"Mineta, grab on!"

He looked up to see Kaminari dangling from the edge of the ship, holding the rope to a life preserver that had landed in the water next to him.

After being pulled onto the deck of the ship, Mineta laid sprawled on his back for a few minutes, panting and coughing up water. "T-thanks, Kaminari. I thought I was a goner."

"Don't just thank me, dude. Jiro was the one who took out that shark villain."

Said girl merely shrugged, twirling one of her jacks with her finger, "Whatever. Wouldn't be much of a hero if I didn't do it, even if he is a little creep."

Mineta sat up slowly, the last of the liquid now out of his lungs. "Oh, it was just her. Man, this day just keeps getting worse and worse. Didn't even get CPR from one of the hot girls in class." He quickly found himself on the receiving end of a barrage of sound waves courtesy of Jiro's jacks.

"You little twerp, I should've let that shark take a bite out of your ass." Jiro spat out, giving the sobbing teen a kick for good measure. "Now enough messing around. What the hell are we gonna do about all those guys in the water?" Peering over the railing, Jiro saw that all of the villains in the shipwreck zone had surrounded them. "Any ideas?"

"Now, Mineta, aren't you being a little too harsh? Sure, Jiro isn't as... _much_ as the other girls in our class, but give her some credit. Plus, between you and me, I don't think beggars can't be choosers in your case." Jiro could've sworn she had blown a blood vessel in her forehead. Were those two idiots really having a conversation like that at a time like this? She was sure as hell getting them all out of there alive, because _she_ was gonna be the one to murder them.

"Seriously, though. What the hell are we gonna do?! We're trapped on this boat with those guys all around us!"

Jiro bit on her thumb in worry, "I can't make sound waves strong enough to do any real damage to those villains without wrecking the boat and royally screwing us. Man, I wish someone strong was here like Todoroki or Midoriya. Hell, I'd even take Bakugo's yelling if it meant we could get out of here somehow."

"Hey! Those three aren't the only ones who can do stuff, you know! We got into UA too, right? We are supposed to become heroes too!"

"Okay…So what's your plan then, Kaminari?"

"I...Well...You know, I honestly didn't think I would get this far. Ughhh!" Ruffling his hair in frustration, Kaminari's face suddenly lit up, "I got it! Okay, here's the plan…"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"So how long are we gonna wait for those damn kids up on that boat? Can't we just kill 'em already?"

Many of the villains treading in the water were getting tired of waiting for their prey, and in the villain world, boredom usually turned to bloodshed very quickly.

The shark man suddenly surfaced among them, still shaking off Jiro's attack. "Those damn brats! I'm gonna enjoy eating them! Let's go!"

That was good enough for them. The villains all made a beeline for the boat, where certain doom awaited the UA students.

At least, that's what they thought.

Before they could reach the side of the ship, multiple sound waves began firing at them from either side, forcing all the villains to begin moving towards each other.

"Mineta, now!"

Said diminutive teen leapt onto the railing, and began throwing his purple balls at the group of villains at a rapid fire rate, "Take this! And that! And this and that and this and that! Aha! Got you guys!" Mineta puffed out his chest in triumph as the group of villains now found themselves stuck together in a big clump thanks to the stickiness of his pop-off quirk.

"Nice, you guys! Now it's my turn!" Kaminari yelled as he ran out from the inside of the ship, carrying a large spool in his arms. "Good thing UA stocked this ship with real boat stuff! Can't go wrong with metal fishing line!" Rearing back, the blonde chucked the spool with all his strength, smiling to himself as he heard it impact with one of the villain's heads. Grabbing the end of the line, Kaminari activated his quirk, sending a jolt of electricity to the blob of bad guys down below, "Time to fry these fish!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

 _ **Mountain Zone**_

Izuku emerged from the black mist portal, plopping unceremoniously onto the hard ground, "Ouch, that villain totally caught me off guard." Rising to his feet and dusting himself off, Izuku noticed that two of his classmates had been transported with him.

Tsuyu and Momo laid on the ground in a tangled heap at his feet, both very clearly dazed and uncomfortable. After helping the pair to their feet, Izuku took a look around at their surroundings, not seeing much besides the expanse of mountain landscape all around them.

"It looks like we three are the only ones that got sent to this area. That mist villain sure was quick in splitting us all up."

"They planned according to our schedule perfectly so that they could find the best moment to strike." Momo chimed in, "They must have obtained the school files from the grounds on that day when the alarm had gone off."

"That mist villain said that they were here to kill All Might, didn't he? If they went to all this trouble, wouldn't that mean that they have some kind of plan and think they are actually able to pull it off? Kero."

Asui's words struck a chord with both of her classmates, Izuku and Momo sharing worried looks.

Izuku quickly found himself deep in his own thoughts, almost instantly tuning out the words of the other two with him

' _She's right...There's no way they would even try something like this if they weren't sure that they could kill All Might. What exactly are they trying to achieve here by doing that? Tch…'_ Izuku ground his teeth in frustration before taking a deep intake of breath, ' _It doesn't matter what their goal is. All Might isn't here right now to save the day. It's up to us to face this evil...If they think they can beat him...We have to stop them before they have the chance!'_

"—worse of all, we also have ourselves to worry about. With all of these villains here at USJ, it'll be quite a fight on our hands. What do you think we should do, Midoriya-san?"

Before he could answer, Izuku's keen senses caused him to snap his head all around, startling the two girls with him.

Before they knew it, dozens of villains had moved on them, effectively cornering the three heroes in training on the far end of the zone.

Edging closer together to try and eliminate any possibility of being blindsided, the three heroes took defensive stances.

"Well, well, well. Aren't you three just precious?" The villain that seemed to be the leader of the mob taunted, "You really think you can take all of us by yourselves? You're just a bunch of brats! This'll be the easiest pickin's of my damn life!"

Out of nowhere, a bright golden light shone off in the distance, followed by a few stray bolts of electricity shooting off into the sky and many loud cries of pain. Noticing this, Izuku dropped his head with a wry chuckle, eyes shadowed by the messy tufts of green hair hanging over his forehead.

"Hah?! What's so funny, you little shit?"

"Our other classmates just amaze me, that's all." Izuku raised his head, his emerald pupils shining like stars as he slowly began channeling OFA throughout his body. "None of us knows what's going on, but that won't stop you guys, will it? We have to take matters into our own hands and be the heroes we're training to be!" His fierce gaze managed to freeze some of the villains in their tracks, none of them expecting a 15 year old to be able to emanate that kind of power just from a look.

"Yaoyorozu-san, Asu—Tsu-chan...Are you two ready for this?" Both girls nodded in determination, their bravery and confidence elevated exponentially thanks to their green-haired class rep. Izuku's smile widened, "Well then...Let's go!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi friends. I'm back again.**

 **Another chapter for you fine folks to read.**

 **What's new? I said I wouldn't go AWOL again, and so far I'm not a dirty liar.**

 **I have midterms coming up soon, so I can't say for sure how long it'll be till the next update. But stay faithful to ya boy. I promise it'll maybe be worth your while.**

 **I am partway through upgrading the parts on my PC. I only have the graphics card left to buy...Ugh, so much money. But damn if it isn't gonna be awesome.**

 **In other news, it was like 10 degrees today and gloomy as fuck outside. I fuckin' love it. Sweata' Weatha' is in full swing, friends.**

 **Welp, yeah. Bye.**

* * *

Pulling the end of her steel bo staff out of the sternum of one of the villains before her, Momo sighed wearily, "This is growing quite tedious. They won't stop coming."

Overhead, Tsuyu acrobatically twirled through the air, lashing out with her tongue to strike villains left and right. She landed on all fours next to Momo, her amphibious appendage snapping back into her mouth, "I don't think the problem is that they're too large in number, it's more that we aren't really doing all that much damage to them. Well, the two of us, anyway. Kero."

The frog girl's comment caused both girls to look towards the third member of their team at the moment, plowing through villains like it was hardly any work whatsoever.

Both had seen Izuku in combat before, Momo having experienced it firsthand. He looked like he was right at home, shapeshifting into different animals as he zoomed around the area with no hesitation in taking opponents head-on. But there was just an unmistakable aura that the green-haired teen gave off that was both extremely reassuring and extremely worrying at the same time.

It was extremely reassuring because his combat skills were as clear as day to anyone watching him. His masterful movements and efficient strikes; combined with his versatile quirk and pure strength allowed him to take down enemies one after another.

It was extremely worrying at the same time, however; imagining what it would be like to have to fight Izuku as his enemy. From what Momo and Tsuyu had gathered from the current fight, it would be an absolute nightmare. They almost felt bad about the beating that their class-rep was laying down.

"Come on guys! It's just one kid! If we take him out, we can have fun with those chicks 'til the boss needs us!"

 _Almost_. Villains were villains, after all. And especially scummy ones like these were asking to be put in their place.

Izuku slid to a stop in front of Momo and Tsuyu, his red boots kicking up a thin trail of dust around his person. The last few green sparks shot off his body as he deactivated his inherited quirk and he turned to survey what was left of the group of villains that they were fighting.

Despite the fact that dozens of villains were on the ground and out cold thanks to the young heroes' efforts, a large number still remained.

A sudden cry of agony rang out throughout the building, causing all three UA students to grimace.

"That sounded a lot like…"

"Aizawa Sensei... We need to end this. Now."

"Well, how exactly do we do that, Midoriya-chan?"

Midoriya's expression had done a complete flip. His smile had completely faded. The playfulness had completely vanished from his eyes and was replaced by a grave urgency. "Leave it to me." His tone left no room for argument. Despite wanting to be of some help themselves, Momo and Tsuyu found themselves instinctively nodding at the direction, both taking several steps backwards in fear of collateral damage.

"Isn't that adorable, boys? Little man over here wants to swing his dick around and take us all by himself!" The taunting villain at the head of the pack wore a dark red open trench coat, reaching into it and pulling out a large meat cleaver. "You must think you're some real hot shit, but these guys have been nothing but street goons and petty thugs. They call me 'The Butcher! I'm on Japan's most-wanted list! It's time for you to learn your place, runt!" The man's words seemed to reach the rest of his comrades, who had malicious grins on their faces as they edged forward towards Izuku. 15 of them versus 1 hardly seemed like a fair fight, but they were villains. Playing dirty came with the territory.

Said teen hadn't dignified the villain's words with a response, merely striding forward at a snail's pace with his eyes shadowed by his hair. With each step he took, the integrity of the ground beneath his feet began to compromise. His body began crackling with green electricity and the orange tribal-like markings on his skin that had become synonymous with OFA became visible along the open areas of his costume. Izuku's expression was all business, and before any villains had the chance to trash talk him anymore, he vanished; A few strands of green light and a faint cloud of dust were the only indicators that he was there in the first place.

"What? Where'd he g—!" In an instant, 6 of the 15 villains dropped to the ground, unconscious. The so-called 'Butcher' had to keep his eyes from bugging out of his head.

Izuku was right back in his original position as if he hadn't budged an inch.

' _How is that kid so damn fast?! I didn't even see him move! What the hell is goi—"_

Before he could finish his astonished thought, several more thuds rang out, causing him to whip his head around and see the rest of his comrades hit the ground _._ Turning back, Izuku once again stood in the same spot, his piercing gaze now directed right at him.

For once in a long time, the wanted criminal felt a deep knot forming in his stomach. His mouth was suddenly dry and he found it impossible to swallow whatever lump had just formed in his throat.

 _Fear_. He was genuinely _afraid_ of this teenage boy. He had faced his fair share of formidable foes in his days of crime, but it was hard to recall the last time he was ever this nervous. The teen wasn't even using his quirk! Not once did he see him turn into whatever animals he was able to transform into. Clammy hand shakily lifting his cleaver, criminal instincts and adrenaline took over, ready to strike at the green-haired teen whether it seemed like a good idea or not.

'The Butcher' stood frozen, shock and awe locking his limbs in place. He had barely blinked in time to see the young hero upon him, fist cocked back and a stony expression on his face.

It truly was baffling how an event that must have taken place in less than a second seemed to move in super slow motion. He could very clearly see the hit coming his way, but there was nothing he could physically do to stop it. Quite honestly, it made it all the more terrifying.

CRACK

Momo had to suppress a wince as the villain was sent rocketing across the mountain zone. Sure it was a villain, and she had just taken out her fair share, but that punch was just so...brutal. Perhaps it was because Midoriya's mood had shifted so drastically that his actions seemed to carry much more weight. She shook her head, trying to clear it of distracting thoughts. There was no time for any of that. Her classmates and teachers needed their help.

Izuku quickly transformed into a dark green thoroughbred, waiting for Momo and Tsuyu to mount him before galloping off to where their Sensei was.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

 **Collapse Zone**

"Eat shit, fuckers!"

The pair of villains took the full brunt of an explosion courtesy of Katsuki's quirk, sending them flying back into the wall on the opposite side of the worn-down room.

Panting slightly as he regrouped with Kirishima, who was just getting done striking down a villain of his own, the ash-blonde took a quick look around, "I think that's the last of them. Fuckin' weaklings."

"Alright, let's go find the rest of our class. If we're both still in the USJ, I doubt they would've sent the others somewhere else." He gave his hand a solemn stare as he clenched his fist, "And not everyone can fight back as well as we can...We gotta make sure they're okay. We got in Thirteen's way and screwed things up in the first place…"

"You go back to the others if you want...But I got a score to settle with that warpy asshole first." Katsuki said through gritted teeth. No one fucked with him like that and got away with it.

"Wha- Did you not notice that our physical attacks didn't do anything the first time!? Come on, man! Don't be an idiot."

"Shut up!" Katsuki's outburst scared Eijiro, causing the redhead to take a step back, "That guy is their way in and out of this place, don't you get it?! If I take away their escape route, those villains will be stuck here!"

While the two teens were yelling at each other, one villain that had seemingly eluded their attention slowly crawled down from the ceiling where he had been clinging to an exposed copper pipe overhead. With a quirk tailor-made for stealth and assassinations, the chameleon man stalked his prey, pulling out a knife to end the heroes in training.

"Hope you had fun chatting, too bad you left yourself wide o—!" The man squealed as he was suddenly grabbed by the top of the head by Bakugo. Straining under the teen's insane grip strength, the villain flailed about like a fish out of water trying to free himself from the vice. "H-Hey, we can talk about this, kid...I-I was just playing around, I—"

BOOM

"Anyway," Katsuki began, holding up the now charred and unconscious villain, "If the rest of the villains are weak like these guys, we don't have to worry about the rest of our class. At least a couple of them aren't total idiots."

"Whoa, what reaction time!" Kirishima had noticed the guy as well, sure; But Bakugo reacted in an instant! "Hey, wait...Since when are you so level-headed? You're usually yelling and swearing your head off."

"I'M ALWAYS LEVEL-HEADED YOU SPIKY HAIRED REJECT!"

"Yeah, that's more like it. Also…" The redhead gave his classmate a smirk, "Was that a compliment to your peers I heard before?"

Receiving only a death glare in reply, Kirishima couldn't help but laugh. He knew Bakugo was a good guy, deep down. He would've teased him a bit more, but there were more pressing matters at hand.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Iida's world was spinning.

He found his breath shallow, his ears ringing, and a deep sense of dread forming in the pit of his stomach.

After witnessing Thirteen go down at the hands of the mist villain, he stood petrified with the remainder of his classmates that had avoided being transported away.

"Well, now that the pro is taken care of, there shouldn't be too much trouble with you children. What do you say?" The villain turned to the students, golden eyes glowing ominously.

Looking at the partially disintegrated form of their teacher on the ground seemed to snap a few of the students out of their fear-induced stupor.

Sato grit his teeth and slowly stepped forward, "Iida, you need to go! Get out of here, hurry!"

"B-But, Sato-kun! I can't just leave you guys here!" Iida felt himself trembling all over. His body refused to obey him and do anything but stand in place.

"Come on, Iida! You're the only one fast enough to go and get help in time!" Sero threw in.

Screwing his eyes shut, the blue-haired teen tried his best to think rationally over the deafening pounding of his heart beating. He glanced over at Thirteen being taken care of by Uraraka and Ashido, then over in the direction of the centre plaza where Aizawa was fighting alone. ' _Our teachers are laying their lives on the line for us! Can I call myself a real hero if I don't use the quirk I was given to save people?!'_

Iida's older brother flashed through his mind. Iida Tensei was a true hero who did his best to help people whenever he could. He was the light at the end of the tunnel that Tenya hoped to reach one day. Would he have even hesitated for a second like his little brother was doing right now?

"Engine!" Letting out a frustrated cry, Iida launched forward. He blew by the mist villain, headed straight for the exit with all his might.

"Hoh? A lone sheep thinking it can escape from the wolves? I commend your effort, but this I cannot allow!" The villain vanished into thin air and suddenly appeared right in the middle of Iida's path to the door.

"Darn!" Turning his feet to try and skid to a stop, Iida dug his heels down as hard as he could to avoid being caught in a portal.

"If other heroes catch wind of this and come to help, it will make our plans to end All Might a bit more complicated. I'm sure you understand."

Iida's eyes widened as the darkness in front of him grew closer and closer. There was no way for him to stop in time to avoid running right into the villain.

He had failed. He had failed his classmates, his teachers, his family's legacy. If only he had been better. If only—

"What the—?! Unhand me this instant, you ruffian!"

Having caught the mist villain off guard, Shoji tackled and wrapped his large frame over him, effectively trapping him in place.

"I-Iida...Run!" As the masked teen struggled to hold the mass of darkness down, Iida didn't waste a second of his classmate's efforts and pushed his quirk to the limit. He burst through the front entrance and was out of sight moments later.

"This is quite the conundrum I have on my hands," The villain muttered to himself. "Now...If you'll release me!" He rapidly expanded his form, sending Shoji flying off of him.

His impact was softened by Sato being able to intercept him, but the force of his flight was great enough to send both boys tumbling across the ground.

"I must notify Shigaraki at once."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Pain.

Overwhelming, immeasurable pain.

It took just about all of his willpower and strength to even remain conscious.

As a seasoned pro hero, Aizawa was no stranger to taking hits. Even the best and strongest heroes the world had to offer took their lumps from time to time. Case in point, All Might.

But this...This was almost unfathomable.

Things had been going well, considering the circumstances. As Shota had expected, all of the villains were nothing but scrubs who couldn't hold a candle to any competent hero with a few licks of field expertise. Save for a couple, anyway.

The villains' apparent leader stood by and just watched for the most part.

At first, Shota thought he was merely one of those bosses who like to let their cronies do the work. But once he entered the fray, it was clear to the Erasure hero that he was biding his time to find the right moment to strike.

Luckily, he had only received injuries to his elbow from whatever disintegrating quirk that villain had. But that was the least of his problems.

If that guy wouldn't have been enough of an annoyance to deal with on his own, then the horrific abomination that currently had Aizawa pinned helplessly to the ground was the icing on top of the shit-cake.

In an instant, he had been overwhelmed by the monster's brute strength. Now, with his right arm practically in pieces and his lower body held down by the black-skinned goliath, Aizawa saw himself out of options.

"So, you can erase quirks," The villain's raspy voice was almost inaudible to the pro thanks to the agonizing pain he was experiencing, "That's pretty annoying, but it's nothing impressive." His voice grew amused and he began chuckling out his words, "When faced with real destructive power, you might as well be a quirkless little boy!"

In a last-ditch effort, Aizawa snapped his head around and activated his quirk on the beast above him, only to have his other arm smashed into the ground by its gargantuan hand.

' _I know I erased his quirk...But he still broke my bones like toothpicks! He must be this strong naturally…'_

"I know what you're thinking! How could he be so strong even though you just erased his quirk!" Having his head forcefully lifted to look in the eyes of the villain before him, Aizawa saw the glee on his hidden face, "That's the best part, Eraserhead! You see, Nomu here was created specifically to take out that damned Symbol of Peace, so from a strength perspective, he's gotta be on the same level as All Might! Hmm?"

He turned his attention to the mist villain appearing beside him, "What is it, Kurogiri?"

"Shigaraki Tomura. I managed to incapacitate Thirteen, but one of the students escaped and is presumably headed back to UA to call for help as we speak."

"Huh?!" Shigaraki's breathing grew heavy as he began violently scratching at the sides of his neck. "You imbecile!" After a few moments, he froze. Slowly lowering his hands, he turned to the warping villain, "We can't win if dozens of pros show up here. It's game over for us. Let's go home. But first…" Turning his head towards the rapid clicking of hooves heading in his direction, his blood-eyes took on a sinister sparkle, "How about we hurt All Might's pride and kill a couple of his students first?"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Midoriya, Yaoyorozu, and Asui weren't really sure what they expected to see when they had rushed in the direction of their sensei's anguished yells. But whatever they could've imagined didn't come close to the sickening sight they had come to see.

Izuku had brought them to the plaza as fast as he could, but they were too late to back up Eraserhead.

"Sensei…" Momo had to suppress a gag looking at the broken form of her capable teacher. Next to her, her classmates in a similar state, deathly pale and trembling slightly.

"Well, what do we have here?" Shigaraki turned to the trio and held his arms out, "Right on time, kids! I was just telling your teacher here that we gotta adjust the game settings a little bit! Thanks to one of your classmates, backup is arriving soon. So before we head out, I thought it would be nice to leave a little parting gift for All Might...Your corpses should do great!"

Shigaraki lunged at them with bewildering speed, and in an instant, his palms were mere inches away from the faces of Momo and Tsuyu.

The poor girls barely had time to blink as their lives flashed before their eyes. To Izuku, the entire thing was happening in slow motion, yet he couldn't will himself to move.

However, the fatalities never came.

"Even at this point, you get in my way…" Turning around to see Aizawa glaring at him, hair afloat to signal that he was using his quirk, Shigaraki let out a dry chuckle, "That's what makes you so cool, hero!"

The brief moment of triumph was dashed as quickly as it came when the Nomu slammed Aizawa's face into the ground, shattering the clay tiles beneath them as it did.

Somehow regaining the cognitive ability to move, Izuku frantically sprang into action. "Get away from them!" Acting on sheer instinct, he powered up his arm with as much OFA as he could muster and swung his fist at Shigaraki. The shockwave from the blow sent the two girls sliding backwards and it whipped up the debris around them to form a large cloud of dust.

As it settled, Izuku's eyes widened in shock to see the large form of Nomu in front of him, completely unfazed by his punch.

' _I-I-I didn't even see him move from on top of Aizawa-Sensei!'_

The monster grabbed hold of Izuku's arm and flung him over his shoulder, slamming him hard onto the ground. He gasped in pain before been thrown again, this time being sent across the plaza and into a pile of concrete debris.

"Hoh? You're still alive, eh? You're tougher than I expected. That probably would've snapped Eraserhead in half!" Shigaraki exclaimed as Izuku slowly dragged himself out from the debris and shakily got to his feet. "I like you kid. You're strong. And that punch you tried to get me with...It kinda reminded me of All Might!"

Izuku gulped as he took a defensive stance, bearings finally regained. He didn't like where this was going.

"I bet you're a follower of his! So I bet it would hurt All Might even more if it was _you_ that we killed! Nomu!"

On command, the beast went on the offensive, charging at Izuku with its burly arms raised above its head, fully intent on crushing the teen like a tin can.

This time, however, Izuku was ready. Pumping OFA into his limbs, he leapt backwards, narrowly avoiding the blow. Right when he landed, he had to evade once more as the ground beneath him shattered thanks to the downward fist of the Nomu.

On and on this went, Izuku being barely quick enough to dodge its strikes as he was being pushed back further and further.

' _Damn it! I don't know how much longer I can keep this up! I need to counter somehow, and I have to put everything I've got into it or else it won't even put a scratch on him!'_ The last time that he had used an irregularly large amount of OFA's power was against the zero pointer in the entrance exam, but would that even be enough here? He didn't have many other options at the moment. ' _Here goes nothing!'_

Sidestepping a hook, Izuku morphed into a gorilla and threw a OFA powered punch right at the bird-face of his opponent. The strike sent Nomu flying backwards, impacting the far wall with a resounding crash.

Slowly panting, Izuku gingerly lifted his once again human arm to see it smoking with a visible red hue up from his forearm to his tricep. "Fuck, that hurt." He slowly flexed his arm and winced at the sharp pain shooting up and down his limb. He wasn't sure how much OFA he used instinctively called upon exactly, but it sure hurt like hell. He was lucky his arm wasn't broken at this point. Fighting like this wouldn't last, but he had no choice. He had to hold out until backup arrived or die trying.

"An animal shapeshifting quirk? You're just full of surprises, kid!" Shigaraki almost sounded like a child with how excited he was, "So that superhuman strength wasn't your quirk? Or do you have two?" Shrugging, he shook his head, "Meh, doesn't matter to me. Nomu is gonna tear you to shreds regardless."

Said monster had pulled himself out of the impact crater, not a wound or sign of damage anywhere on him.

Shigaraki cackled at the look of shock on Izuku's face, "Ha, you really think that kinda power is gonna beat Nomu? He was literally created for the sole purpose of killing All Might! It sure is fun to watch you try, though!"

As the David and Goliath re-engaged in combat, Momo and Tsuyu had just finished tending to Aizawa as best they could. Momo had created a stretcher to carry him on, and she and Tsuyu had put splints on both of his arms.

"This is about as much as we can do for him right now, kero. What now, Momo-chan?"

The raven-haired girl had kept her eyes on Midoriya from the moment he had begun fighting that...creature...Only taking her gaze off of him to tend to their fallen Sensei. Midoriya was losing. It was obvious to see. One of, if not the most capable student in their class was gradually being overwhelmed by that Nomu monster. Momo could feel the anxiety welling up within her as she followed the fighting to the best of her ability. What in the world were they going to do? Both of their teachers were defeated, and Midoriya seemed to not be far behind. If the hand-covered villain and his pet decided to turn their attention to her or Asui, there was little they could do to defend themselves. They were powerless. _She_ was powerless.

"Momo-chan!"

"Wha—?" She was shaken from her thoughts as Tsuyu jerked her by the shoulders.

"We have to help, Midoriya-chan. Kero."

Momo almost wanted to laugh at her classmate. If only it were some sort of sick and twisted joke. But the look on Asui's mostly emotionless face spoke loud and clear.

"We can't just let him fight that monster alone. He needs help."

Midoriya needed help. He was risking his life for them, for their sensei, and for the rest of their classmates. He had come to their aid in a heartbeat and shouldered the burden of fighting the villains before them. There was no way he could get through this alone. There was no way Momo was going to _let_ him go through it alone. She needed to get her act together. She was here at UA to become a hero that others could depend on. How could she falter at a time like this?

Before she knew it, Momo was on her feet, pushing her quirk as fast as it could go. She pulled her creation out of her torso and turned to her froggy classmate. "Tsuyu-san, I'm going to need a little bit of help with this, it's quite heavy."

Momo had made a _freaking_ bazooka! Tsuyu dumbly nodded and left Aizawa's side to help hold up the back end of the launcher as her classmate took aim. "This Shoulder-Launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon is designed to destroy tanks and military aircrafts, so there's quite a bit of recoil."

As the two _teenage girls_ lined up their _anti-tank/anti-aircraft rocket launcher_ , Izuku was slowly losing ground.

Thankfully, he hadn't been hit directly with any blows, but the damage to his body and fatigue were beginning to catch up to him. He had to keep increasing his output of OFA as the fight went on just to stand a chance, even with his animorph quirk working in conjunction with it.

He was pushing rapidly approaching his limit and the way things were going...He'd go down well before landing any kind of serious hit on the Nomu. He was going to need to wager everything on a hail mary. An all-out attack that would end the fight one way or another.

Being so engrossed in combat up till this point, Izuku had just noticed his classmates out of the corner of his eye. He would've stood there with his jaw to the ground if he wasn't literally fighting for his life at the moment. He failed to suppress a grin eeking its way onto his face, despite still dodging and striking at the Nomu. He really hoped they'd be ready soon because shifting in and out of his gorilla state was really draining on him.

"You don't look too hot, kid! Finally starting to realize just where you stand?" Shigaraki had been quietly enjoying the sight of his beast taking on the teen, growing more elated as the scales began to tip in his side's favour. He stopped for a moment, genuinely confused, "Wait, why are you smiling?"

"Midoriya-san!" His eyes snapped to the two students he had ignored up until now, writing them off as non-threats relative to Izuku. That was definitely a mistake.

Izuku took the cue and nimbly rolled between the legs of the Nomu. As it turned around, he tossed a handful of dust in its face, causing it to screech and stagger backwards. Taking this chance, he turned into a hawk and flew high into the air.

A barrage of rockets impacted the monster not a moment later, the force of the blasts shaking the plaza to its very core. Shigaraki cried in outrage as another barrage of missiles zoomed across the plaza and hit the Nomu again, enveloping it in a thick veil of dust and smoke.

"Reload!" Momo quickly produced more ammunition for the launcher, but she and Tsuyu both had to put the weapon down to reload it. Having had to produce such complex materials was quite taxing on the vice-rep, but she did her best to fight through it.

Before they could fire off at the Nomu again, a shrieking Shigaraki sped towards them with reckless abandon. They pivoted to take aim at the villain, but he was covering too much ground for them to get a clean shot without being caught in the blast.

"Die!"

Shigaraki dove out of the way to avoid both an explosion and a wave of ice aimed right for him. Looking up, he saw his almost-assailants standing before him.

"Damn it, Icy-Hot! Why the fuck are you here?! You're in the way!" Leave it to Bakugo to find something to loudly complain about, even in a situation of dire circumstances.

Izuku landed between his two male classmates and reverted back to his human form. Both Bakugo and Todoroki were both surprised to see the condition that the greenette was in; The former gaping in shock and the latter's eyes widening considerably.

"Thanks for the help, guys." Izuku put up a brave front, but it was obvious that he was running out of steam. "I've been having some trouble dealing with these guys."

"That thing is here to kill the number 1 hero. It's understandable that it would be extremely powerful." The ground beneath Shoto's feet began to freeze, "We can't let them take out All Might."

"No shit, dickhead! Deku is getting his ass kicked! Let's kill that fucker and take care of Handy Manny over there after!"

Shigaraki growled at the students, "You brats are really starting to piss me off!"

"Yaoyorozu-san, Tsuyu-chan. Take Aizawa-Sensei and get out of here. We'll handle things here."

Momo shook her head in protest, "Midoriya-san, you can't be serious! You've taken a considerable amount of damage as it is! Let us help you!" Her voice died in her throat when Midoriya turned his head to give her the best All Might smile he had.

"You _are_ helping us. We can handle it. Please, get Sensei out of here."

"..." Momo clenched her fists, her eyes screwed shut in frustration. She took several deep breaths, followed by allowing her body to stop tensing, "Tsuyu-san. Help me carry Sensei. I'll take the front if you can take the back."

Tsuyu looked on in concern as Momo dropped her end of the bazooka and grabbed the front handles of the stretcher. "Are you sure about this, Momo-chan?"

Pausing for a moment, she put on a determined look, "We have to believe in our classmates. Midoriya-san says that they can handle it. I trust him." Turning to said boy, she looked at him with a stern gaze, "Please don't make me regret this choice."

He gave her nothing more than a nod, but that simple gesture conveyed everything that she needed it to.

She and Tsuyu took off with Aizawa back towards the front entrance, leaving the three boys to deal with Shigaraki and Nomu.

"Tch. I guess chasing after those two makes no difference to me in the end. Killing you three should do just fine!"

"Don't let him touch you! He has some sort of decaying quirk that disintegrates whatever he touches with his hands on contact!" Heeding Izuku's warning, Todoroki shot out a large wave of ice aimed at Shigaraki's legs, causing the villain to leap up to dodge it.

Taking this opportunity, Bakugo rocketed himself upward and slammed his explosive palm downward, "Take this!"

Despite being able to get his arms up in defence, the nature of Katsuki's quirk circumvented any blocking and the lanky man winced in pain as the explosion propelled him downwards.

Recovering in the air, he flipped back onto his feet and scowled, "Not bad, brats. But you might be forgetting that I'm the least of your worries." His sinisterly happy tone of voice sickened the boys to their core as Nomu had finally recovered from Momo and Tsuyu's attack.

Izuku gasped in shock to see the monster walking towards them despite having several gaping holes in its torso thanks to the rocket barrage. His surprise skyrocketed even further when he saw the wounds begin to heal themselves.

"Ain't that something? Nomu's super regeneration brings him back to full health in seconds! You've got no chance! You think All Might will get here in time to put your dismembered bodies back together?!"

Without warning, Nomu's entire body was encased in a sheet of ice. All eyes turned to Todoroki, who let out a frosty breath as he glared down the villain who was intent on ending the Symbol of Peace.

Much to the half-hot half-cold teen's dismay, the Nomu easily broke free.

"Enough playing around. Nomu, kill 'em."

With that, the beast let out a loud screech and charged at the three heroes in training. Its speed was almost blinding, and being the only one who had fought it head-on, Izuku grabbed his classmates and rolled out of the way as Nomu came crashing down where they once stood.

"That thing is way too strong for any of us to beat. We have to do all we can together just to stay alive until help comes." Izuku had been with Katsuki all his life, so he wasn't worried in the slightest that they could work together. No, his doubts lied with the third member of their impromptu team. Todoroki's abilities and strengths were overt, but his standoffish demeanour made it hard to know how well they could synergize. Izuku wasn't too proud or delusional to think that they could get through this without all of them giving their all.

"Todoroki-kun, you're the only one of us who has any real range," Ignoring the outburst from Bakugo that he had any shortcomings, he locked his emerald eyes with Shoto's heterochromatic ones, "Can you give the two of us support while we fight that thing up close?"

His emotionless face unwavering, Shoto waited a few moments before subtly nodding and turning back towards their enemy. "That seems like the best course of action right now."

"Alright, Kacchan. You ready for this?"

Despite the tense aura, Izuku had to stifle a chuckle when he heard Bakugo scoff in derision, "The fuck do I look like to you Deku? Let's blast that bird-brained freak!"

The pair sprang into battle with the hulking monster, doing their best to stretch out its attention between them as much as possible. When one was dodging an attack, the other would attack from a blind spot.

Under most circumstances, this strategy would allow them to beat their opponents easily. But Nomu was a freak of nature in every sense. Izuku was running out of stamina from prolonged fighting and Katsuki's quirk didn't directly enhance his speed, so the two were losing ground, _fast_.

"Shit!" Narrowly dodging a backhanded swing, Katsuki threw both his arms out in front of him and sent as strong of a blast that he could right at Nomu's side. It staggered back a step, creating a window for rhino-Izuku to ram it off of its feet.

As soon as the beast hit the ground it was pierced through the limbs by Todoroki's ice, rendering it unable to move.

However, it's insane healing factor instantly kicked in, allowing it to pry itself off of the ice spikes and get back to its feet. It rushed at the nearest enemy, being Izuku having just gone back to human form.

It raised its arms up and attempted to squash the teen, but his partner jumped in and threw an explosive palm into the back of its head.

Nomu shook off the blow easier than either Midoriya or Bakugo expected, catching the green-haired boy off guard and knocking him back with a strong left jab that just grazed him before he could get out of the way.

"Deku!" Nomu attempted to grab Bakugo, but he was saved by a wall of ice forming between them, trapping large black arm at the elbow. The ash-blonde propelled himself around the wall to where his friend was struggling to get up and helped him to his feet.

"T-Thanks, Kacchan." Gripping his side, Izuku looked over at the Nomu with laboured breaths, "This isn't looking great, is it?"

"We need some kind of big final push to take that big bitch out. How much you got left in you, dipshit?"

"Hah...Hah...Just about one more. You?"

Katsuki looked down at his trembling hands, the muscles spasming periodically as a result of using his quirk so often. He honestly wasn't sure he could dish out another explosion at full force without destroying the ligaments in his palms. Luckily, his hero costume was prepared for such an occasion. Katsuki lifted his arms up and shook them slightly, the light sloshing of liquid from inside of the large grenade-shaped gauntlets he was wearing causing Izuku to nod in understanding. He took Katsuki's left gauntlet and fitted it on his own arm, finger ready on the release pin as he aimed the gadget.

"Well, here goes nothing."

The Nomu broke free of the ice and ran at Izuku and Katsuki, swatting away ice attacks from Shoto as it went as if they were mere flies.

"Wait for it…" Nomu was about 50 feet away, still barrelling straight towards them through the ice. Todoroki then suddenly altered his plan of attack and froze a patch of the ground below Nomu's feet, causing it to falter for a moment in its run.

"Now!"

In unison, Katsuki and Izuku pulled the pins off of the weapons, unleashing the full force of the explosive sweat that had collected in them throughout the day. Both blasts made direct impacts to Nomu's broad torso, causing the entire area to be enveloped in a blinding light.

Momentarily ignoring the excruciating pain that he was feeling in his left arm thanks to the recoil from Katsuki's Grenadier Bracer, he smiled weakly as he caught sight of Nomu, or rather what was left of Nomu after things settled.

Nomu's entire upper half had been blasted away, leaving a pair of legs standing still in the middle of the square like a mannequin displaying a pair of jeans in a department store.

Both boys dropped their exhausted arms that had been holding up the bracers and smiled to one another, then glanced over to Todoroki. He still showed no signs of significant emotion, but relief washed over him in the form of his tensed shoulders dropping.

This small victory party was rudely interrupted by Shigaraki, who was trembling uncontrollably. What at first sounded like uncontrollable wailing, turned to intense hysterical laughter as he threw his arms up in the air.

"Hahaha! Great shot! You really got him good, huh?! That was a critical hit if I've ever seen one." His voice immediately shifted into a calm, gravelly whisper, "Too bad this boss has so much HP." Shigaraki's crimson pupils sparkled as a large shadow loomed over Katsuki and Izuku.

The two stood shocked, eyes as wide as saucers. They just couldn't fathom that any being could have withstood an attack such as that, literally being blown in half, and somehow recovered in barely a minute.

Slowly turning around, they caught a glimpse of the last bits of Nomu's shoulder and head reforming, leaving several visible but non-fatal burns across its body.

Before they had a chance to react, Katsuki was struck hard with a backhand that sent him flying, coughing up blood and rolling across the ground.

"Kacchan!" Izuku tried to run for his friend but instead was grabbed by the arm by Nomu. The beast squeezed down on his limb, instantly shattering it despite Izuku attempting to strengthen it with as much OFA as he could muster.

Before he could be dealt a fatal blow, Todoroki slid by on a freshly formed patch of ice and stuck his hand onto Nomu's back, flash freezing its entire body.

Izuku smashed the goliath's frozen hand to free himself and threw his body as far away as he could, landing a few feet away with a thud.

Shoto poured as much into his right side as he could, powering through the frostbite he felt forming along the side of his body. But even then, it wasn't enough.

Nomu used its brute strength to pull itself free before the ice could kill its tissue and landed a punch in Shoto's stomach.

The stoic teen violently threw up blood and felt several of his ribs shatter before being launched backwards and crashing into the ground next to where Katsuki's battered body laid.

Shigaraki resumed his maniacal cackling, eyes wide with psychotic glee. "Now do you see, kid? You never stood a chance!" Smiling widely at the sight of Izuku sprawled out on his belly, trying to drag himself to his companions using his one good arm, the villain covered in hands decided that enough was enough.

"Now, little hero boy. How's about we let Nomu finish off your friends while you watch, powerless to stop them!"

"N-no…S-S-Stop..." Izuku desperately tried to pull out any bit of strength from within himself, but he had nothing left. They had lost. He could feel his consciousness rapidly fading, Nomu slowly making its way over to the defenceless Katuski and Shoto being the last thing he remembered before everything went dark.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Izuku's eyes slowly fluttered open, his brain taking several moments to get going again. He sat up, groggily rubbing his eyes as he looked around him. "W-Wha…?"

He had to snap his head around several times to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Well the problem was, he _wasn't_ seeing things.

There was literal nothingness as far as the eye could see in every direction. No Nomu. No Kacchan or Todoroki. No USJ. _Nothing_.

Izuku wasn't even sure how he was standing, considering the fact that there was nothing below him either. The grayish-white expanse all around him showing no indication that he was moving or standing anywhere in space or time.

"Huh?" Was his intelligent response to the situation. How in the world was he supposed to proceed when he was essentially standing in an empty void?

One of his initial thoughts was that perhaps he had somehow gotten sucked into one of Kurogiri's portals, but he quickly threw out that possibility based on what he had observed from the quirk up to that point. If he was capable of keeping people in some sort of pocket dimension, there would have been no reason that class 1-A would've ended up scattered around the USJ in the first place.

He found himself growing frustrated at not knowing where he was or what the hell to do about it, aggressively scratching the green mop of hair on his head. In doing this action, he suddenly realized that his arm that had been snapped by Nomu was as good as new.

While he confusedly inspected his healed arm, a faint glow caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He looked up to see a pair of doors stood floating in nothingness several feet away from him.

Curiosity overwhelming caution, Izuku figured that there was nothing else he could do at the moment and slowly approached the two doors.

The first was a large set of double doors that towered over Izuku. It was dark gray in colour, framed in what looked to be a gold trim. The numbers 1 to 9 ran down the centre of the doors, with all being blacked out except for the 9, which was glowing with crackling green light. There were also 6 thick white chains that hung across the doors, each held together by a similarly coloured padlock with a unique symbol on the front of it.

The other door caught much more of Izuku's attention, however. It was nothing more than a simple wooden door, some sort of dark timber by the looks of it. What was intriguing about it was the deep scratches that ran diagonally across the door, as if some sort of enormous animal had clawed away at it ferociously.

In addition to that, Izuku could hear muffled growling and banging noises from the other sides, coupled with shadows rapidly moving in the crack under the door.

For some reason, this door spoke to Izuku, and before he knew it, he was walking up to the door and pulling it open.

"What is this?" He had opened a gateway into what looked like a medieval dungeon of some sort. The growling and banging had gotten significantly louder and it sounded like it was coming from deeper into...whatever this was.

Taking a few steps into the damp, torch-lit corridor, Izuku jumped when the door slammed behind him.

He whipped around but was shocked to see that the door was no longer there, leaving him only the option of going down the corridor.

After a few minutes of walking, the corridor led into a larger, slightly better-lit room. On the walls on either of his sides were several different statues of animals, each intricately carved out of dark stone.

At this point, the noise was almost deafening and definitely coming from the other side of the room.

Izuku attempted to tap into either of his quirks but strangely found that he couldn't, no matter how hard he tried.

Now taking extra caution, he slowly stepped towards the far wall, keeping a defensive stance for whatever might be waiting for him.

The room was deceptively large, and Izuku found himself walking for what felt like 10 minutes before he finally got close enough to see what was making the racket.

He came upon a large cell that ran across the width of the room, standing between himself and the far wall.

It was too dark to see much clearly, causing Izuku to squint hard and peer as far into the cell as he could.

His heart almost flew out of his chest when a dark mass slammed against the bars of the cell, growling and snarling at him like a rabid animal, causing him to fall back onto his butt.

Gripping his chest in startlement, Izuku looked up at what had scared him, only to stare in shock at his own face on the other side of the cage. Slowly getting to his feet, his eyes never left the occupant of the cell, growing more confused by the minute.

This person looked almost identical to himself, only with dark green skin and more pronounced canines that were visible even with his mouth closed. His eyes were also different, having vertically slit pupils that carried an ominous crimson glow behind the usual emerald.

Now apparently calm, the almost mirror image smirked and leaned his elbows against the bars containing him.

" **Well, look who finally decided to pay me a visit.** "

"W-What...Who are you?" Izuku desperately tried to get his ragged breathing under control, both still feeling the effects of being startled and beginning to lose his composure at the sight before him.

" **Aww, c'mon you really haven't figured out who I am? I thought you were supposed to be smart!** " He waited for a moment, probably hoping that Izuku would respond to the barb, but when no response came, he continued on, " **Take a look around you.** _ **Look at me!**_ **What do you see?** "

"I see...Me?"

" **Close! You're getting warmer, but I feel nice so I'll just come out and tell ya!** " Cupping his cheeks with his palms as he leaned into the bars, he gave Izuku a lopsided grin, " **That badass quirk of yours. You know the one that lets you transform into a bunch of animals?** " He stuck a thumb in his own direction, " **This guy.** "

Izuku felt the gears in his brain slowly chugging along, trying to comprehend the flood of information and interpretations entering his mind all at once.

Seeing the rapid pupil movement and low mumbling, the caged being chuckled in amusement, " **Amazing, right?** "

"I...What?" Taking a second to calm himself, Izuku let out a deep breath, "So you're saying... _You_ are animorph?"

" **More or less.** " He replied with a shrug. " **But that's kind of a lame ass name, don'tcha think? I want somethn' that rolls off the tongue a bit better, y'know? Something that captures my awesomeness in all its glory!** **Like uhh...Changeling! Nah...How bout Arsenal! Hmm, no...Uhh...Ah! Gar?** " Testing the name out on his lips several times, he nodded fervently at his new title, " **YES. I AM GAR!** "

"O-Okay, Gar-san…"

" **Gar!** "

"Right, sorry...Gar…" Izuku scratched the back of his head, "Honestly, I'm still kind of lost as to what exactly is going on. Assuming you are actually my quirk, are all quirks some kind of apparition that their users can talk to?"

Gar merely shrugged uninterestedly, " **Dunno.** "

"O...kay. Well, uh...Where are we?"

Izuku was once again startled when Gar jumped onto the bars, hanging from the metal rods by his hands and feet, " **Glad you asked! We're in your mind right now!** " Guffawing at Izuku's once again awestruck impression, Gar pressed forward, " **Yeah, it's like some sort of visualized spiritual plane in your head or somn like that...Not too sure how it works, to be honest, hehe…** " He chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

This was growing more confusing by the second. The more questions of Izuku's that Gar answered, the more questioned he had! There was a particular thing that was nagging at him, however. " **Wait, so...Why are you in that cage?** "

As soon as those words escaped Izuku's lips, Gar's expression darkened. The air in the room grew heavy, and the greenette unconsciously gulped.

" **That's the million-dollar question, isn't it?** " Gar's childish and goofy manner had vanished in an instant. He now radiated authority, power, and intimidation. If Izuku could compare it to anything...It was like looking into the eyes of a ferocious predator that was sizing up its next victim.

" **Why am I in this cage? Why am I locked up here like some kind of zoo animal? Why, oh why?! WHY, IZUKU?!** " Gar immediately reined his outburst in, seamlessly returning to his calmer, more calculating tone that somehow made Izuku's skin crawl just as much. " **There's a whole lot I could tell you about why I'm stuck in this stupid fucking cage, but why don't I show you instead?** "

Gar stuck his hands through two spaces in the bars and held up what looked to be a large lock, the chains connected to it jingling faintly.

Izuku's eyes widened when the lock began to glow bright green, with orangish-red markings running all over it. "That's…"

" **Ding ding ding! Looks like you figured it out, kiddo!** " Letting go of the lock, it clanged loudly against the metal bars as Gar stepped back and began pacing back and forth on his side of the cage, " **You see, things used to be great here for me. I wasn't stuck in this cage** _ **or**_ **this dingy ass dungeon room. No...This!** " He gestured around angrily with his arms, " **This all happened a couple of months ago...When you went and got a new quirk!** **Here** _ **I**_ **was, thinking that you were pretty well off! That we had a good deal going! But, nooooo! For some reason, that wasn't good enough for you! You went and got...whatever the hell that fucking thing is,** " He pointed to the lock of his cage with hatred and distain, " **And damned me to this place! Quirks don't just mix together like paint! That damn quirk almost killed me! Although, I guess you can't really call this living, can you?** "

Before Izuku had a chance to respond, " **Look here, you motherfucker! There's so much I have to say, so much I wish I could do to you, just to give you a** _ **taste**_ **of what you put me through. *Sigh*...But we don't have time for that right now. Listen up, I'll cut the shit. That Nomu thing. It kicked the shit out of you. It kicked the shit out of you and Bakugo and that bi-haired kid like you were fucking flies buzzing over his lunch. And from what both of us have seen, you can't do anything about it. Before you open your mouth, time in the outside world runs basically at a standstill compared to here, so no, you and they aren't dead yet. But you will be, that is...Without me.** "

Izuku had a million questions running through his mind at the moment. Just what was all this? A tangible manifestation of animorph that seemed to be suffering. Apparently because of One For All no less. He wasn't sure how or why he had triggered this inner mindscape now, or whether or not he'd be able to do it again to try and find out more about it.

But all of that fell by the wayside as he looked into Gar's eyes, seeing no trace of insincerity or deceit. He had a way to stop Nomu.

"You'll help me stop that thing?"

Gar's own piercing stare didn't waver, deep scowl having been replaced by much less intense frown, " **I'll give you the strength to take that thing on and make it out alive.** "

He then stuck his dark green hand out, extending it to Izuku through the cage.

Izuku inspected the hand with hesitation, "What's the catch?"

Gar shrugged, " **If you die, I die. Not that I particularly like my arrangements, right now, I don't feel like biting it just yet. Consider this an investment in my own future.** "

"And you're sure you can help me beat Nomu?"

Giving him an amused grin, Gar turned his palm upwards, " **Do you got much other choice?** "

Gritting his teeth, Izuku grabbed hold of Gar's hand with his own.

Almost instantly, he felt an intense warmth building up within him, starting in the centre of his body and quickly radiating out to the rest of his being. He had never felt so energized in his life! The strength he felt welling up within him was almost too much for him to fathom.

His skin took on a faint white glow, and as the light emanating from him grew in intensity, he felt himself begin to float into the air.

His body slowly began to disappear into thin air, a bright light beginning to fill his vision as the sight of Gar left it down below.

As the last of Izuku left the room, so did the light that followed him.

Now alone once again, Gar stared up at the spot in mid-air where Izuku had just been a moment ago. With a sinister glint in his eyes, he smiled widely, " **An investment in my own future…** " His smile widened even further when he heard the faint cracking as a small gash appeared on the lock of his cell, " **I sure hope you'll be ready when I come to cash it in.** "

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Up to this point, things had been going a bit less than ideal.

Having All Might be a no show at the USJ was really disappointing, infuriating even. That was the entire point of the entire thing, after all.

And now that Kurogiri had allowed one of the students to escape to get help, things became _that_ much more of a pain in his ass.

But it wasn't a total loss, Shigaraki mused.

Eraserhead would be out of commission for quite some time. The same could be said about Thirteen.

Better yet, there were about to be 3 dead children that UA and All Might would have to answer for. If Shigaraki wasn't going to get to physically kill All Might today, an emotional/psychological blow like this would satiate him for the time being.

Shigaraki sauntered behind Nomu, both heading towards Bakugo and Todoroki, who still laid sprawled on the ground.

"It's always more fun to kill 'em while they struggle and scream, but this'll do. I'll let Nomu deal with you two. That other kid is mine to torture before i kill him."

Just as he was about to give Nomu the order to end the two defenseless teens, a deep rumbling caused him to stumble off balance, followed by a guttural roar that shook Shigaraki to his very core.

Turning around, his eyes almost bugged out of his head, "W-Wha...What?!"

He couldn't believe what he was looking at.

Towering over them was an enormous anthropomorphic monkey-like creature with a face similar to that of a baboon. Despite having the tail of a monkey, its body and musculature were closer to that of a great ape of some kind, its giant arms larger than semi-tricks.

The beast stared down at Shigaraki, baring its razor-sharp teeth in rage. Its solid emerald green eyes holding unbridling amounts of fury directed right at him and the chimera beside him.

' _Wait'_. Emerald green eyes. Matching fur. ' _Is this that fucking kid with the animal quirk?! What the fuck is this?!_ '

Standing at around 50 feet tall, the monkey-man made Nomu look like an ant. Shigaraki unconsciously shivered in fear as it roared once more, now repeatedly slamming its fists against its chest.

"Hacks! Hacks! This is cheating!" Shigaraki screeched as he fearfully backpedalled, "Y-You stupid brat! You think that you are gonna win now just cause you got a power-up?! Nomu, kill that thing!" He yelled as he ran for dear life, taking shelter behind a partially crumbled concrete wall.

On command, Nomu charged forward at the beast, leaping up with enough force to leave a deep crater where it had pushed off of the ground. Soaring through the air, Nomu threw both of its arms up with intertwined fingers, intending to spike down on the larger beast's face, only to be snatched out of the air like a minuscule insect.

The monstrous form of Izuku slammed Nomu to the ground, sending a shockwave out in all directions. Before it could peel itself out of the massive crater it was just squished into, Izuku slammed down with his massive foot, crushing it instantly in a gory pool of blood and innards.

Shigaraki looked on in abject horror as he witnessed his master's gift to him be split in two like a cockroach partially trapped under a glass.

The hairy beast roared once more into the ceiling, shattering the glass hanging overhead. He then turned his massive head in Shigaraki's direction.

The lanky man paled and stumbled to the ground, resting on his palms and butt as he craned his neck up at the ferocious being.

He felt himself begin to hyperventilate. This wasn't supposed to be happening right now. _He_ was supposed to be the one in control. This was _their_ assault on UA and the Symbol of Peace.

But that had been turned on its head as soon as that damn green-haired kid had decided to intervene. And now…

Now the hunter has become the hunted.


	10. Chapter 10

**We are back! It's been a little bit, but here's chapter 10 for y'all!**

 **Hope you been well.**

 **Till next time friends!**

* * *

Momo had a few choice words (most of which would make her mother gasp if she heard them) for whoever thought it would be a good idea to put the USJ's entrance platform at the top of what seemed to be the tallest flight of stairs in the history of mankind. But at the moment, there were more pressing matters.

She and Tsuyu had finally managed to carry Aizawa-sensei up the stairs to where they assumed he would be safest. Brimming with concern at the sounds of raging battle back down in the square where they had left Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki, it took all they had to keep going despite their classmates literally fighting for their lives.

They gingerly laid the injured man down next to Thirteen, Momo quickly creating a blanket to cover the gaping wound on the latter's back.

"I'm glad you all seem to be doing alright. What's the situation up here?"

"Iida went to go get help. He left around 5 minutes ago, so it shouldn't be much longer," Shoji replied, "Jiro, Mineta, and Kaminari arrived just before you did." He pointed with one of his eyeball-arms to the girl and short boy giggling at Kaminari's short-circuited goofiness from overusing his quirk. "Everyone else...We aren't too sure...How's Aizawa-Sensei?"

"Momo-chan and I managed to apply emergency first-aid and bring him up here...But he's still in pretty rough shape, kero. We were able to get away thanks to Midoriya-chan, Bakugo-chan, and Todoroki-chan. They're fighting the boss of the villains right now…"

"What?!" was the collective response. A few of them tried to look down into the centre square, but the fighting had caused many of the buildings around it to collapse into it. Add that to the clouds of dust being picked up, and their line of sight to their friends was essentially cut off.

"S-Shouldn't we go help them?" Uraraka said, rubbing her hands nervously.

"Those three are monsters compared to us! What the hell are we gonna do for them?!" Mineta shouted, tenderly rubbing his now scabbing scalp.

"We still gotta help them!" All eyes turned to see Kirishima, who had just come to the platform himself. "I was with Bakugo before, he said he'd meet up with me up here...If I had any idea he was gonna go down there and fight, there's no way I would've let him go alone!" Just as he was about to run down the steps after his classmates, Momo grabbed him by the arm.

"Please wait a moment, Kirishima-san."

He met her stern gaze with one of his own, "If you think you're gonna talk me out of this, then you're—"

"You're not going down there alone. Midoriya-san may have told me that they would handle it, but they aren't the only ones here aiming to be pro heroes one day. We must act upon our feelings of what is right! Ashido, Sero! You two come with us. Can the rest of you stay here and guard the teachers?"

No one seemed to object, and with their classmates wishing them luck, the four quickly made their way down towards the centre plaza.

Staring at the spot where they had just been, Mineta had a blank expression on his face, "Man...She got real bossy, huh? As expected from boobs like tha—URGH!"

The ball-headed teen slumped to the ground as Jiro sent a sound pulse through his ears, scowling at his fetal form at her feet. She dared to look over at the teachers lying on the ground and grimaced at their injuries. Pursing her lips, she, like everyone else, only hoped her classmates down there wouldn't suffer the same fate.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Making their way down the stairs, Sero and Ashido shared a glance before turning to the raven-haired girl just ahead of them.

"Just out of curiosity...Why did you pick us to come with you?" Ashido asked, "We totes wanna help out, but wouldn't it have been better to get the stronger kids like Shoji or Sato to come fight?"

"Hey, don't sell yourself short, Ashido! You and Sero are just as manly as everyone else!" Kirishima's attempt at motivation caused Sero to let out a low chuckle.

"Indeed," Momo began, still facing forward to their destination, "You both have skills that have gotten you as far as the rest of us. Despite not having quirks specifically built for hand-to-hand combat, I believe you will be indispensable for what I have planned."

All four of them suddenly came to a halt when the ground began trembling wildly, throwing them off balance. They all gawked at the back of the enormous monkey-like creature that came into view, frozen in place by both fear and pure shock.

"W-What the hell is that?!"

"AHHHH! A KAIJU!" Sero and Ashido screamed in unison, leaping into each other's arms for dear life.

As the beast let out a ferocious roar and began thrashing about, Momo caught a glimpse of black for a split second before it was grabbed and slammed into the ground. Her eyes widened in shock as her brain began putting the pieces together. That black mass that got thrown down was that monstrous villain from before. There was no other possible answer. That tint of fur on the giant back was unmistakable, and there was only one person she knew that had a quirk that had anything to do with metamorphosis. "M-Midoriya…-san?"

" **That's Midoriya?!** "

None of them could believe their eyes or Momo's claim. They knew Midoriya was strong, possibly the strongest person in their class. But seeing a monster like this before them was too crazy even for him to pull off.

The quartet carefully snuck around the perimeter of the square, slowly edging closer to the centre as they went. Coming to a stop behind a partially destroyed brick wall, Momo peered over the cover before turning to her three classmates.

"I suppose I should explain the situation to you three before we proceed. Aizawa-sensei got injured fighting one of the villains. I have no idea who or... _what_ it was that fought him," She shuddered slightly, "But as you clearly saw from the condition we brought Sensei back in…" Her classmates nodded in understanding, grim expressions coming over their faces. "Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki took it upon themselves to fight that thing, and that was the last thing I was aware of before Tsuyu-san and I left for the entrance platform. But now…Midoriya-san is somehow like _that_ , and the other two are nowhere to be found...and from the way he's thrashing around, it's safe to say that Midoriya-san isn't in control of himself."

Momo stopped her explanation when she saw the grief-stricken look intensify on Kirishima's face. She followed his line of sight and gasped when she saw Bakugo and Todoroki unconscious on the ground a ways away, clearly in need of medical attention. Before she could open her mouth, the red-haired teen was already gone, sprinting as hard as he could towards their fallen classmates.

"Kiri, wait!" Ashido went after him immediately, skating across the ground using her acid to try and catch up to him.

Momo pinched the bridge of her nose and turned to Sero, who had an exasperated smile on his face, "Okay, well this makes deciding what to do slightly less complicated. I have a plan, Sero-san. If you'll lend me a hand, I believe it could work."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

" **GRAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!** "

*CRASH*

"Damnit damnit damnit DAMNIT!"

Shigaraki scurried away as quickly as he could as another structure he was just hiding behind was smashed to pieces.

Panting as he took cover behind a pile of rubble, he couldn't stop his hands from trembling as they came up to claw away at the sides of his neck. Things were going just fine...all according to plan before that damn brat showed up and ruined everything. "And where the hell is Kurogiri?! Shit!" He rolled out of the way just in time as the spot where he just stood was flattened by Izuku's massive foot.

Looking around, he had carelessly gotten himself cornered on the far end of the plaza, his only route of escape right through the goliath monkey glaring down at him. "Tch…" He had little choice left. Hands outstretched low at his sides, Tomura's fingers twitched ever so slightly. If there was going to be any window of opportunity for him to get away...Or by some miracle win...It would be slim. "Alright monkey boy...You think you're the final boss?! I'll show you!"

Seeming to understand Shigaraki's words of challenge, Izuku bared his large fangs and let out a snarl. He raised his massive arms above his head, intending to smash down on the lanky man.

Tomura readied himself for the attack, but a brief flash of movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.

All of a sudden, the large ape-man let out a pained cry as Nomu appeared on top of his head, punching downwards repeatedly. He tried to grab it, but the much smaller villain quickly leaped down his body, landing on his knee as it began striking there

As the massive beast flailed around with the pest moving all around his body, Tomura looked on. From what he could tell, Nomu had miraculously regenerated from before, albeit not completely. No, it seemed that it had sustained too much damage over the course of the battle, and the super regeneration quirk bestowed upon it was not able to keep up. Even so, this Nomu was much more resilient than even _he_ had thought. He would have to ask Sensei about it later.

He quickly put that thought in the back of his mind, as he had just been presented with a golden opportunity to escape. He dashed forward, using Nomu's distraction to go between Izuku's legs, just managing to put a hand on his left calf, pouring his quirk into his hands and corroding the flesh he had touched. It seemed to do some sort of damage, as he let out a deafening growl of pain, but it didn't seem to harm him enough to knock him off of his feet. "Damn thick-skinned furball."

After putting some distance between himself and the fray, he came to a skidding stop and spun around to see - much to his surprise - Izuku seeming to be slowing down and Nomu steadily doing damage despite its condition.

"Giant prick just go down already!" He doubted the fight would end very soon, given the strength and tenacity that both beings had displayed. Shigaraki's eyes narrowed when he saw two people running around the far end of the square on the other side of the battle, one of them looking awfully similar to the girl with the rocket launcher from before. "Oh, no you don't. Not this time!" Making a beeline in order to try and cut them off, he failed to notice two more people running along the perimeter of the square as well.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Kiri, wait up!"

Without thinking, Ashido had gone after Kirishima as soon as he had booked it towards Bakugo and Todoroki, and upon catching up to him, she let out a gasp as she caught sight of her injured classmates. She slowly walked up to Kirishima with her hand covering her gaping mouth.

"Oh Kami…" Eijiro crouched down and gave the two a look over, a grim expression on his face. He screwed his eyes shut and reached his hands out to both of their necks, sighing in massive relief when he felt a pair of pulses. "Ashido, help me out here!"

The pink-skinned girl nodded frantically and rushed to Todoroki's side as Kirishima slung Bakugo over his own shoulder. They were about to head back to where they had left Momo and Hanta but stopped when Kirishima felt Bakugo begin to stir slightly.

"Hnnn…Let...g-go, shitty hair..." The blonde could barely get the words out, spitting out a few globs of blood in the process. He then tried to shake himself off of Kirishima, an action that didn't do much thanks to his injuries.

"Wha— Stop moving around so much, dude! We gotta get you outta here! You and Todoroki are seriously injured!"

"Deku's dumbass...is gonna die...If I don't bail him out...," Katsuki grunted, weakly lifting his drooped head. "Let. Go."

"You can't even move right now! How exactly do you expect to help him?! We gotta get you back to—Whoa shit!" He had to make an effort to keep his balance as the very ground beneath them shook with great force.

"Ahhh! Midoriya is going wild again! C'mon, Kiri let's go already or we're gonna get squashed!"

"D-Deku?" Confused by Mina's statement, Katsuki craned his neck back towards the square, and his heart immediately sank.

He failed to formulate any coherent speech as he stared up at what was supposed to be Deku. This was nothing like anything he'd ever seen from his childhood companion. Katsuki had been there from the very beginning. He had _seen_ Deku's quirk manifest for the first time. So where the hell had this form come from? ' _The nerd's powerup that came outta fuckin' nowhere was suspicious enough, but this…_ ' As doubt and uncertainty began to well up within Katsuki's mind, he couldn't help himself from clench his teeth in anger. How long was Deku hiding this power from him? How long was Deku going to let him believe that he was strong when...when _he_ was the one who had gotten his ass kicked and was slung over his classmate's shoulder...and Deku was smashing the shit out of the villains! He had planned this from the beginning, hadn't he? Keep his true powers a secret so he could show off as the strongest when the opportunity presented itself!

Katsuki felt a rage building up inside of him like a volcano primed to erupt. Before he noticed it, the intense pain that had been coursing through him was replaced by a newfound burst of energy.

With as much strength as he could muster at the moment, Katsuki managed to flail his way out of Eijiro's grip and flopped unceremoniously to the ground. Despite his injuries, he somehow found it in him to barely drag himself forward, heavily panting.

"...Fucking nerd...You wanna keep making a fool out of me?" Ignoring the protests and attempts at physical restraint from Kirishima, he dragged his weary body back towards the centre of the square. "...How fucking dare you…" Katsuki's head began to throb as he inched further and further towards the massive Izuku in his battle with Nomu. He couldn't see nor hear anything but his so-called friend before him.

Katsuki gulped. That was what it was. He was angry, there was no doubt about that. He had spent a good majority of his life being angry at things, so he knew the feeling well. But more than anything else he was feeling; the unrelenting, unbridled emotion that was somehow giving his body the power to move,"...Deku...you fucking turncoat…you tricked me..."

He and Deku had been in it together from the beginning. Katsuki felt like he belonged in high regard, but he would have had to have been brain dead to not see Deku for what he was. Deku had it in him to go places, that much was clear as day. Katsuki couldn't respect people who didn't have the strength or the drive to desire anything and everything that they put their minds to.

But most of all, Deku was a cut above everyone else that had come and gone in his life for one key reason. All his life, people used to kiss the fucking ground that Katsuki walked on. He loved it at first, but as he grew up, it became more and more annoying.

At the crux of it all was none other than Deku. Deku didn't treat him like some star that he could ride the coattails of or some kind of idol that he'd follow to the ends of the earth.

No, Deku was his first real friend. He wasn't just a yes man or some kind of lackey. He didn't change his opinions or actions to please Katsuki, nor did he ever shy away from letting Katsuki know if he was going too far.

He would never say it out loud to the damn nerd, but Deku was the only person that he ever saw as his equal. They trained, ate, studied, and grew together on the path towards becoming heroes.

And now, Deku was displaying power beyond what Katsuki could hardly imagine! How had he been left behind so quickly and easily? They were no longer on equal ground...Compared to what he was looking at right now in the centre of the square, he was nothing. An insect. An _extra_.

Tears stung at the corners of Katsuki's eyes as he dug his forehead into the ground in frustration. The person who he respected as an equal, the person who he had fought and grown alongside, in his mind, had betrayed him. Had left him to rot in the cesspool of mediocrity.

"DEKUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

The piercing, anguished cry reverberated throughout the square, heard by all that were conscious. Unbeknownst to him, it had even bought Yaoyorozu and Sero a few precious seconds from Shigaraki's pursuit.

Most important of all, his scream had gotten the attention of Izuku, who had just disposed of Nomu for the umpteenth time. The massive beast spun around towards Bakugo and looked down at him.

As soon as they locked eyes, every single speck of Katsuki's rage and anguish completely disappeared.

He stared wide-eyed at the giant-monkey man, his throat suddenly dry and beads of sweat running relentlessly down his face. "D-D-Deku?"

There was an unmistakable emotion that was screaming from Izuku's large emerald orbs that made Katsuki's heart sink.

 _Fear_.

Most people wouldn't have noticed such a thing, but Katsuki believed he knew Izuku more than anyone else.

An unquestionable fact about the greenette was the look he always had deep within his eyes. Often times it was more subtle than others, but Katsuki knew it when he saw it. Deku had a fire; A will of iron that screamed: "I won't settle for anything short of my dream". Any time he looked at him, he could see it. He admired it. It mirrored the eyes that the two of them had watched countless times growing up that rested within the skull of the world's top hero.

But the eyes that Katsuki were looking at right now were as far from those eyes as could be. They were scared, vulnerable, _weak_.

Deku definitely was not in control of himself right now. And it wasn't a rage-fuelled rampage like it seemed to be at face value. Somewhere deep within Deku's consciousness that _had_ to be in there somewhere was terrified of what was going on. Deku was actually in trouble.

 _He needed a hero._

Katsuki's mind immediately flashed back to the sludge villain incident from before they got into UA. That was one of the only moments he could remember feeling true fear for his life.

That feeling of distress and fright that Katsuki felt was identical to what he was seeing in Deku at this moment.

Deku had saved him back then, and now when Deku was the one who needed saving, Katsuki couldn't do shit about it. His initial burst of adrenaline had since faded, leaving him nothing more than a heap of human parts that could do nothing but look on.

"Gahhh, c'mon! Move, damnit!" He tried his best but to no avail. It was a miracle that he was even still conscious at this point.

Just when Bakugo had begun to lose hope when Nomu and Izuku re-engaged, there was an unexpected answer to his prayers.

The front wall of the USJ all but exploded, and as the dust from it quickly settled, the silhouette of the one man who could save the day came into view.

" **STUDENTS! HAVE NO FEAR, BECAUSE I AM HERE!** "

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Okay, look. I know you're way smarter than me...But are you _sure_ that this is going to work?"

Sero couldn't help but have the teeny tiniest bit of doubt in Momo's plan to help Izuku defeat Nomu once and for all while simultaneously getting the rampaging teen-turned-ape under control.

"Please, Sero-san. I've thought up countless scenarios in my mind from the moment I saw the situation at hand...and this is the best course of action, I promise." Momo said, not looking away from her current creation, slowly pulling it out of her exposed midriff.

"After having aided Midoriya-san and company fight that villain, I observed that, despite it having a tremendously powerful healing factor, it still takes time to heal. From what we have observed so far with - for the sake of clarity let's call him Mega Midoriya-san - So with Mega Midoriya-san's fight, it's clear that he is causing the dark villain's healing quirk to reach its maximum workload, as any single strike that he connects with more or less destroys the monster's body. Therefore," Momo picked up her latest creation - a scoped harpoon gun of some nature - and turned to Sero, "We are going to immobilize it so that Mega Midoriya-san can defeat it. Now please, put your suit on."

"Why do I have to wear this thing again?!" Momo gave him a look as if the answer was obvious! He looked down at the costume he was holding, seriously questioning his class vice-rep's sanity at the moment.

"As I explained earlier, after helping Mega Midoriya-san defeat Nomu, we need a way to ensure that his uncontrolled destructive power is not directed at us. From his actions and mannerisms, it seems like he has lost his human consciousness and is thrashing about like an animal in the wild would. With that said, it's safe to say we could predict how he would act if we compare it to how a simian would. So please put the suit on, we haven't much time."

Sero sighed in defeat. He wanted to protest further, but it wasn't like he had any ideas of a plan or anything. So, resigned to his fate, he put on the costume that Momo had made for him.

"Alright, there! I'm wearing it! Now what?"

Momo had been observing the battle and turned around, immediately having to hold in a giggle.

To be fair, it _was_ actually her best idea given the circumstances, but how could she _not_ laugh at Sero wearing what she had given him.

"Why the hell are you laughing?!" Sero cried, waving his arms back and forth angrily.

This made it even harder not to laugh. She composed herself as quickly as she could, coughing into her fist "Ahem, okay that should be about it. With you acting as bait, there is no way that Mega Midoriya-san could resist. Wait for my signal, and make your way over there as fast as possible and use your quirk to move around and keep from getting eaten."

"Not helping!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"All Might! You're here!"

"Hooray! We're saved!"

Of course, class 1-A's initial reaction to seeing the world's top hero show up to save the day would be utter glee and relief. But after several moments, All Might's demeanour began to scare them a little.

The buff blonde had rushed to the USJ the moment that Iida had explained the situation. This was evident from the skid marks all along the paths outside and the panting, red-faced, bespectacled teen about halfway back to the facility trying his best not to inhale the cloud of dust he was left in by his teacher.

Upon his arrival, however, things seemed to have become much worse than when his student had come to get him.

Looking around him, he saw that none of the students up on the entrance platform were injured, which was a massive relief.

His colleagues, on the other hand, were not so fortunate.

Looking over at Thirteen and Aizawa made All Might's blood boil. Unconsciously, a wave of killing intent radiated from his person, almost knocking the students off of their feet.

Most times when All Might was doing hero work, he had his patented Symbol of Peace smile on his face to serve as a beacon of hope for any weary folk who may need it to keep going. But that was work.

This was _personal_.

" **Not only do you villains intrude on my students' valuable learning time, but you endanger them and harm my fellow instructors?! Allow me to show you the consequences of your wrongdoings with the hammer of justice!** "

All Might leapt off the top steps and flew down towards the square, slamming onto the ground with a resounding crash. He looked around, slightly confused by the fact that every villain around him was already defeated.

If everyone was already taken down, who was the one that needed to be dealt wi—

Oh.

All Might stared up at the massive...gorilla thing...with a bewildered expression. He rubbed his eyes and blinked several times to check if he was seeing things, but it seemed what he was looking at was _actually_ what he was looking at.

If one were to observe All Might at this moment, they would definitely be confused and unnerved by the expression on the number 1 hero's face.

Slightly slack-jawed and squinting, All Might continued to stare up with arms limp at his side as the giant creature thrashed around, seemingly fighting someone...or something?

" **Wait...That's not one of the students, is it?** " The dark skin and bird-like face made him think that it could be Tokoyami, " **No, I doubt it. That bird face looks way too gross and unnatural to be Tokoyami-kun.** "

This made All Might even more confused. Why would two of the villains be fighting each other instead of making a move on the students or pro heroes?

" **Well, I guess some villains just can't get along with each other? Pretty sloppy if you ask me...Ah well.** **I suppose it makes my job easier.** **Ahem...Evildoers! Prepare yourselves!** "

All Might sprang into action, bounding right towards the heat of the fray. He came to a stop a few feet away from the battling beasts and struck a pose with his hands on his hips. " **You nefarious villains have fought your last fight! Now I am here to save the da—AAAAAAAY** "

Completely off-guard, All Might was blindsided by a wild swing by Izuku's massive fist, sending him flying back and crashing into a small building.

Slowly peeling himself out of the wreckage his projectile body had just caused, All Might shook the rubble off of himself and blinked several times. " **Oh, it's** _ **on**_ **now!** "

He zoomed back towards the square's centre, now with a much more business-approach.

Not waiting for the fight to come to him, All Might capitalized on a moment where Nomu had just landed after a dodge from Izuku and drop kicked the dark-skinned monster square in the chest.

Immediately after, he had to dodge a stomp from Izuku that would've turned him into a human flapjack. All Might jumped up and cocked his fist back.

" **Detroit Smash!** "

The force of his punch was enough to stagger the large ape-man, and All Might instantly followed up on his initial attack.

" **New York Smash**!"

All Might crouched down and sprang back up, delivering a devastating uppercut to the large chin of Izuku, knocking him clean off of his feet. Upon landing, he winced slightly at the faint trails of steam coming off of his body.

All Might suddenly had to spin around and throw his forearms up in front of him to block a punch from Nomu. He hadn't expected the amount of power that was packed into the strike and was launched backwards. He managed to regain his balance midair, landing on his feet in time for Nomu to appear in front of him.

The two began exchanging a barrage of punches, each one coming in contact with nothing but the other's fists.

All Might could feel the stinging in his limbs begin to grow, partly from the insane strength of this villain and partly from his injuries, but he grit his teeth in determination. " **Don't think this is enough to take me down, villain! If you are going to match me at this moment, then I must push back even harder!** "

The pro-hero kicked it into overdrive, pushing his speed to an ungodly level. More and more of his punches began to land as the exchange went on, and he began to steadily gain ground over the bird-faced monster.

" **Take this! GURRRAAH!** " All Might delivered a vicious volley of strikes, ending in a left hook that sent Nomu rocketing backwards.

The villain bounced across the ground like a pebble skipping across a pond, slamming into the far wall with a crash.

All Might pulled his extended fist back, panting heavily. He wiped the sweat pouring down his face and stared at his fist, " **Damn it...My condition is getting worse much faster than I thought. Thank Kami that villain was already so damaged. I don't think I could have made it through a much more difficult fight given how damn strong that thing was. No to deal with that giant villain!** "

As if on command, a massive pair of hands suddenly wrapped around All Might's body and lifted him up in the air.

He came face to face with the monkey-like goliath, completely wrapped up. Staring into his shining emerald orbs, there was something about it that gave All Might a strange sense of deja vu. Why did they look so familiar?

He had little time to think it over, as the grip around his arms and torso began to tighten considerably, making it hard for All Might to breathe even with OFA powering his body.

As soon as he felt All Might begin to struggle, Izuku tightened his grip even further. Blood shot out of his mouth as his bones began to creak.

" **S-Shiiiit….** " He just _had_ to get squeezed down on right on his injury. The pain coursing through Toshinori's body made it nearly impossible to maintain his resistance and he felt the grip around him tighten to a dangerous degree. It took all he had to just get enough oxygen into his body, let alone try and break free.

The Symbol of Peace began to feel faint. His head was spinning and he was beginning to see spots in his vision. As his eyelids grew heavy, he desperately grasped at the consciousness that was starting to leave him.

' _ **Come on, Toshi…Wait…what?**_ ' All Might must have been hallucinating due to the lack of oxygen and blood flowing to his brain because he could have sworn he saw a giant banana running across the square yelling and waving its arms like a madman.

"ALL MIGHT! GET AWAY! CRAP CRAP CRAP!"

Blinking in realization, All Might suddenly found himself free from Izuku's grasp, landing with a painful thud on the ground. He looked up to see the giant monkey-man chasing what appeared to be...Young Sero? His student was apparently dressed as a banana and using his tape quirk to zip around the square kiting the enormous beast.

Toshinori slowly rose to his feet, gripping his bloody side. He wiped the blood dripping from his chin and scowled. " **Young Sero my boy, I'm coming!** "

Intending to jump to his student's aid, All Might was caught off guard when Nomu reappeared, grabbing the number one hero by his injury with an iron grip.

All Might cried in pain as his side was essentially crushed, and try as he might, he didn't have the strength to escape.

Nomu raised its other arm over his head, ready to deliver what could be a fatal blow.

Before it could follow through, it was impaled out of nowhere by a large harpoon. The sharp object wedged itself directly in Nomu's chest, and the velocity sent it flying away from All Might.

"All Might!" Momo ran up to the pro hero and helped him to his feet, "Are you alright?"

Coughing up a couple of globs of blood, Toshinori gave the teen a thumb's up and a brave face, " **I am just fine, Young Yaoyorozu! Thank you for the assistance! And might I add nice shot! But a simple harpoon won't be enough to stop that villain, we must finish it off!** "

He grabbed the harpoon gun out of Momo's hands and detached the rope from the barrel, " **Stand back!** "

Once she jumped back, he began spinning rapidly on his toes, whirling Nomu around like a yo-yo. In the circular path, Nomu slammed through several walls and buildings before All Might lifted his arms, spinning the rope at a high angle above his head.

" **Now...As Present Mic would say…** " He let go of the rope, sending Nomu zooming out of the USJ like a rocket. It crashed clean through the glass roof and vanished into the sky, leaving a trail of white smoke, " **GET YEETED!** "

All Might brushed his hands, " **There we go!** "

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Momo waited a few moments before speaking, "Sensei, let us not talk about that egregious and abominable phrase that you just uttered moments ago. But all I will say is for the love of all that is good... _Please_ never again."

Completely ignoring Momo, Toshinori looked towards Sero, who was still leading the large ape around. " **There's no time to waste! We must defeat that last villain!** "

"No, stop!" Momo's outburst caused All Might to freeze mid-stride, "That's not a villain! That's Midoriya-san!"

The look of utter disbelief on All Might's face was more than expected, so the raven-haired teen quickly put her hand up, "It's a very long story, sir. Let's deal with this first, then I'll tell you everything."

All Might wanted to protest in order to have his many, many, _many_ sudden questions answered...But Young Yaoyorozu was right. This could wait.

"I have a plan, All Might." Momo wheeled out her ultimate trump card to stop this madness, a giant cannon!

' _ **Holy...Do all teenage girls enjoy projectile weapons this much?!**_ ' He made a mental note to talk to the guidance counsellors about this. " **Wait, but if that really** _ **is**_ **Young Midoriya, are you sure we should shoot him with a cannonball?** "

Momo patted the barrel of her baby, "Don't worry, All Might. This cannon is loaded with the strongest tranquillizer known to humankind. With a high enough amount to knock a blue whale out for a month." The genuinely excited grin Momo gave him was honestly a little disturbing.

" **O-Okay! Leave it to me! I'll get Young Sero out of there and give you the opening you need!** "

Finding newfound vigour, All Might raced towards Sero, who was screaming at the top of his lungs in fear of becoming a snack for Midoriya.

"ALL MIGHT HELP! AHHH!"

Izuku had his back to him, So All Might decided to grab hold of the closest giant appendage to him; the tail!

He wrapped his burly arms around the swinging tail, taking a moment to rein it in from swinging around. Almost immediately, the large transformed teen's movements become more sluggish before he fell to his knees and eventually flopped flat on his belly.

Thankfully it happened slowly enough for Sero to not become a banana splat on the ground.

Pleasantly surprised by how effective his strategy was, All Might couldn't help but puff his chest out proudly. At this point in his career, showmanship was more of a reflex than anything else.

Momo seized this chance and fired the cannon, shooting a comically large syringe right into Izuku's neck, knocking him out cold.

Three simultaneous sighs of relief were let out, thankful that it was finally over.

The giant ape morphed back into Izuku's human state, causing All Might and Sero to wince at how battered and beaten the teen was. The mentor picked his student up into his arms tenderly, careful not to aggravate his injuries any further as he and Sero walked back over to where Momo was standing.

"ALL MIGHT!"

The scratchy yell made them all turn to see Shigaraki standing before them, panting like a madman with a hunched back and dishevelled appearance.

"AH HAHAHA FINALLY! I've been trying to catch you all day! Now that I've got you right where I want you!"

*BANG*

"GAHH!" Shigaraki slumped to the ground gripping his shoulder, which now sported a bullet wound.

Everyone looked up to the entrance platform to see Snipe, along with the other pro heroes of UA.

"Now don'tcha make another move. It's high time we put an end to all of this nonsense, wouldn't you say?"

Growling in anger, Shigaraki slowly got to his feet. "Goddamn it! Why do you heroes always have to stick your fucking noses where they don't belong!"

Before either party could make another move, Kurogiri suddenly warped into view between them.

"Shigaraki Tomura! We must leave this instant! Nomu and the rest of our comrades have been utterly defeated...And master wishes to speak to us."

"Huh?! Sensei wants to talk to us? Tch…" Casting one last hateful glare at the Symbol of Peace, he relented. "Fine, but this isn't over. Mark my words, All Might! We _will_ end you."

With that, before any hero could react, he stepped into Kurogiri's portal and they disappeared into thin air.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

The police arrived minutes later.

Every available student gave the investigators their witness accounts and the paramedics took away Aizawa and Thirteen, along with Midoriya, Bakugo and Todoroki.

All Might elected to give his own statement before seeking medical attention.

He pursed his lips as Tsukauchi finished jotting down in his notepad.

"Alright, thanks Toshi. We'll take the villains we arrested into custody and see what we can uncover. But it's not looking great. They didn't seem to be much more than hired thugs."

" **I thought as much…*Cough*!** " All Might took a quick look around to make sure the coast was clear where they were standing on the other side of the building before shrinking down to his skeletal form. " **Well, good work. Please let me know if there are any other pieces of information that you discover.** "

All Might and Naomasa shared a firm handshake before the two parted ways, one to go get treated and check up on his injured students, and the other to go back and debrief the students still at the USJ.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

In an unassuming, tucked-away bar in Kamino, Shigaraki popped out of a portal and slumped to the floor.

"Ouch...We were totally defeated...All those grunts were wiped out in an instant...Even Nomu got beaten! Those damn kids were strong! Sensei!"

He stared up at the small TV monitor on the far wall, "All Might looked perfectly fine! You were wrong!"

" _ **No, I was not. Far from it. We were just not prepared enough and ran into a few extra obstacles.**_ "

" _ **Yes, we underestimated them quite a bit,**_ " A second, more deranged voice added. " _ **What of Nomu?**_ "

"Completely blown away, doctor. Even with my warp quirk, I was unable to locate it without knowing its coordinates."

" _ **Well, I suppose there isn't much to do about it now,**_ " Shigaraki's 'Sensei' said, " _ **We seemed to have miscalculated when attempting to make it as powerful as my dear old friend All Might.**_ "

"Power...That kid…There was a UA student who practically fought toe-to-toe with Nomu. He was as fast and almost as strong as All Might. If he hadn't gotten in our way...We could've killed the Symbol of Peace. That...damn brat!"

" _ **I understand your frustration, but this was not a total failure. Take your time and gather elite comrades to aid you in your quest. We are unable to move freely, which is why we need you to be our spokesperson and defacto symbol. Shigaraki Tomura...The next appearance you make...Show the world that you are a force to be feared!**_ "

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

The 17 remaining students were sent back to the dorms with Snipe acting as their supervisor in place of the injured Eraserhead.

All of them were full of concern for their teachers and classmates who were hurt in the incident, along with questions about what exactly had happened with Midoriya.

Momo sat down on her bed with a heavy sigh, freshly showered and changed into her pyjamas.

It had been an extremely rough day for everyone, and that was an understatement.

Being down in the eye of the storm along with others such as Tsuyu or Sero, it was understandable that there would be traces of fear and dread still within her after experiencing what she did.

However, this is what she would have to deal with if she ever hoped to become a full-fledged pro hero, so she would have to work towards overcoming it, as with everything else.

Her mind began to wander more towards her green-haired classmate who had lost control of his quirk and became that giant beast. It was, to put it simply, absolutely crazy.

In all her reading and studying throughout her young life, she had never come across anything that was even similar to an instance such as that. It went to show her just how complex this world could be.

She was shaken from her thoughts when the door opened, revealing Ochako carrying Nozomi in her arms.

"Hey, Momo-chan! Hope you don't mind our guest here. It's just that...Deku-kun isn't here to keep her company...And I thought she'd be lonely."

True to her words, the usual jubilance and energy seemed to be all but gone from the rottweiler's being. She walked slowly with her head drooped, whimpering slightly every few moments.

It broke the two girls' hearts to see. Nozomi and Izuku had an incredible bond from what they could tell, and she seemed to be able to sense that her owner was in bad shape.

"Aw, of course, I don't mind at all. Us girls have gotta stick together." She patted the space on her bed next to her and let the dog hop up onto it, where she immediately rested her head in Momo's lap sadly.

As Momo gently caressed the canine in her lap, Ochako plopped down onto her own bed as well.

"I'm so worried about them." The brunette thought out loud, "I know we're training to be heroes, but that was so scary! And seeing Deku-kun and everyone else in that condition," She buried her face in her hands, "It was horrible!"

Momo could do little more than nod. She, like the rest of her classmates she was sure, was horrified by how badly injured their teachers and peers were. They had all sacrificed their bodies in order to help keep everyone else safe; A true marking of a hero. But that didn't make the pill any easier to swallow.

All they could do from this point on was continue to get stronger, both as heroes and as friends in order to help each other and hopefully prevent something like this from happening again.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

After receiving treatment and a healthy dose of verbal berating from Recovery Girl about his recklessness, All Might decided to check on his three injured students before leaving the infirmary.

He frowned deeply as he looked over their injuries. His students didn't deserve to have to fight the way that they did.

Todoroki had the least severe injuries, and with treatment from Recovery Girl, he would be back on his feet tomorrow.

Bakugo and Midoriya were in much worse shape.

The former would need more intense treatment and a longer time to recover, (probably 3 or 4 days with straight treatment), but the latter…

This kid was _fucked up_.

It would take a week of intense treatment to heal him, and that would just be to get him back to being able to move!

"The fact that you were able to move at all, even in that crazy giant form is unbelievable, kid." All Might shook his head. This shouldn't have happened. If he had been there. If he had been better. If he had done more. None of this would've happened.

All Might left the infirmary and made his way to the teacher's lounge, dropping down on the sofa with a sigh and puffed back to his skinny form. Leaning his head back, he stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours before dropping his head back down and sitting hunched over with his arms on his knees.

"Oh, Young Midoriya...Just what happened with you today? Maybe I've been over my head about this the whole One For All mentor thing...God I sound so pathetic right now…"

Fishing into his pocket, All Might pulled out his phone, electing to stare at the blank screen.

After he had made up his mind, he ceased the staring contest with the mobile device and dialled a number he hadn't in a very long time. "If I'm gonna do this right and help Young Midoriya make One For All his...I can't do it by myself."

Despite his resolve, the world's top hero couldn't keep his knees from trembling or his palms from getting so clammy that he almost dropped his cellphone.

One ring.

' _Come on, Toshi! Grow a pair! You're doing this for Young Midoriya!'_

Two rings.

' _AHHH I CAN'T DO THIS!'_

*Click!* {" _Hello?_ "}

"Ah, H-H-Hello! Long t-time no s-s-speak...Sensei!"


	11. Chapter 11

**What's up y'all? We back wit it. New Year, new chapter.**

 **To be honest, I meant to finish this chapter way sooner, but I kinda got stuck in a rut, plus after being back at school for a semester I kinda took the winter break to unwind and be a bum.**

 **But what's important is that I'm back. And I hopefully will continue to be back sooner or later.**

 **Updates? Let's see...Culture Festival episode is about to be soon. Man is that gonna be fucking amazing.**

 **America almost started WWIII and almost roped us into it.**

 **Raptors are still going strong.**

 **Dunnoe, readers.**

* * *

The news of the incident at USJ spread like wildfire, reaching every corner of UA's campus by the end of the day.

Despite their best efforts, the school's staff simply couldn't keep the inevitable from happening; Teenagers sharing gossip.

Of course, the other first-year hero course was no exception to this.

Class 1-B had been dismissed earlier in the day when Vlad King suddenly had to go to an important staff meeting, and almost as soon as they reached their dorm, news of the USJ incident explained why their Sensei cancelled class all of a sudden.

"Alright guys, make sure you finish those notes that Vlad King Sensei gave us to do for tomorrow. After that, we pretty much have the day off."

Itsuka had quickly embraced her role as 1-B's class rep, trying her best to help everyone stay focused on things while also not being too overbearing. She got along well with all of her new classmates and was happy with her situation.

"EVERYONE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS! THOSE 1-A SCUM ARE ALREADY TRYING TO SWEEP US UNDER THE RUG!" One Monoma Neito yelled as he stormed into 1-B's common room with a deranged look on his face and his phone held out in front of him.

It was fair to say, as with basically everyone at UA, that all of her classmates had unique and somewhat eccentric personalities. And that was fine...mostly. But Monoma was a little...extreme when it came to the two first-year hero courses. For some reason, the blonde didn't like the other class and immediately tried to start a movement for the entirety of 1-B to be against them.

This was of course taken with a grain of salt by everyone else, as there was no real reason to hate class 1-A right off the bat. A rivalry was one thing but Monoma was sort of obsessed with it. And once Kendo's relationship with several of 1-A's students became known, the vendetta was shut down before it could really take off.

That didn't keep Monoma from taking it upon himself to hate on 1-A enough for everyone else.

"Look here! Not even a week into the first semester and they already pulled a stunt like this to capture the spotlight from right under our noses!" The phone was snatched out of his hand by Kendo, and she immediately went pale.

Her classmates looked at her with concern before everyone crowded around the small device and read the headline on the screen.

Not sure what to say to their grief-stricken class rep, a few other members of 1-B gave each other perturbed glances.

"Uhhh, Kendo? Maybe we should go see 1-A and check if they're alright. It would be a good chance to meet them anyway."

"Y-Yeah...Okay, Tokage..." The trio of Tokage, Tetsutetsu and Shiozaki pulled Kendo with them in the direction of 1-A's dorm, much to the chagrin of Monoma, who was being restrained by the rest of his peers.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Knock knock~! We're comin' in~!" The four 1-B students slowly stepped into 1-A's common room, looking around with slight confusion at how quiet it was.

"Where the hell is everyone?! HEY 1-A! GET DOWN HERE SO WE KNOW YOU'RE OKAY!" Tetsutetsu yelled through cupped hands at the ceiling.

"Tetsutetsu!" Kendo chided as she smacked him upside the head.

"Perhaps the class members are currently praying peacefully in their respective rooms. I believe that would be my course of action after experiencing such an ordeal."

Ignoring Shiozaki, the others turned to the elevator, where four 1-A students came to greet them.

"Salutations! Is there something that we can help you with? I am Tenya Iida, a member of Class 1-A! These are my classmates, Mineta-kun, Ojiro-kun, and Kirishima-kun!" Iida exclaimed. He peered past the strangers to see a familiar face, "Hello there, Kendo-kun!" Iida suddenly frowned, "I assume the fact that you're here means that you heard…"

"W-W-W-What if they're villains here to finish the job?! I don't care if there are hot girls here I can't take this twice in one day!" The short teen sobbed into Ojiro's tail.

"Take it easy, Mineta," Ojiro said with a sweatdrop, "They're from 1-B, the other hero-course."

"That's right! We came to check on you guys cause we heard what happened!" Tetsutetsu hollered.

"W-What happened, Iida?" The weak, troubled voice of Kendo from behind the commotion got everyone's immediate attention. Tetsutetsu dropped his shoulders and sighed heavily, sparing a glance at Shiozaki and Tokage, who wore frowns.

The boys of 1-A shared looks before all sighing themselves. "Come on guys, let's let Iida take care of this and go upstairs to check on the others." Kirishima led Ojiroand Mineta back to the elevator while Iida led the visitors to the couch area.

"Please have a seat." Sitting across from the 4 of them, Iida pushed his glasses up and sat with his eyes closed for several moments. "Now that everyone is calm and collected, I shall inform you of the events that have transpired earlier this day. From Mineta-kun's anxiety, I'm sure you can tell that there were several issues today. I would strongly suggest that you refrain from making any, *ahem*, _unsavoury_ comments," He glanced at Tetsutetsu with a serious expression, "while I explain everything. So…"

Iida began detailing class 1-A's trip to the USJ, right from the time they reached the facility to the moment he had managed to escape and call for help. The rest of the details were told to him by his classmates, which he recounted to the best of his ability. All he personally observed after that was the trio of his classmates and pair of teachers being loaded into the ambulance and carried off towards the infirmary.

"So you can see why we are not particularly cheery at the moment. We haven't received any updates about Bakugo or Midoriya, but Todoroki should be back tomorrow."

The reactions from the other teens all varied slightly. From about halfway in, Shiozaki had been whispering prayers under her breath with her hands clasped together. Tokage had the lower half of her face buried in her shirt collar with scrunched eyebrows. Tetsutetsu sat with his arms crossed, a deep scowl on his face. And worst of all was Kendo. The orangette was as white as a sheet, hands trembling and breathing sharply.

"Kendo-kun? Are you alright? Would you like a glass of water? Perhaps a scone?"

Itsuka felt like vomiting. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears and spots began appearing in the corners of her vision. She was both shivering and burning up at the same time. Two of her best friends had gone through such a thing within the first week of their first year at UA. "I-I have to go."

"What?" No one else had the chance to comprehend what Kendo meant before she leapt up and ran out the door.

"Kendo!" Tokage immediately dashed after her, leaving Tetsutetsu and Shiozaki sitting on the couch with Iida.

Before Tetsutetsu could make another outburst, Shiozaki's vines shot out to cover his mouth and she slowly opened her eyes, bowing to Iida. "Thank you very much for having us, Iida-san. We'll get out of your way. God bless you." Bowing once more, she pulled her classmate with her out the door.

"Tetsutetsu. Let us return to the dorm to inform the rest of our class of the tragic event Iida-san told us about."

"What about Kendo and Tokage? Aren't you worried that they just ran off?"

Ibara shook her head gently, "The Lord is watching over all of us, and Tokage is watching over Kendo. We should assuage our class's concerns and let Kendo find a way to ease her concerns that we all saw back there. Come now." She began walking away, and Tetsutetsu could've sworn he saw a halo above her head. He rubbed his eyes confusedly before shrugging and following after her.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

The door to UA's infirmary slammed open, revealing a panting Kendo Itsuka. Hair a mess and clothes dishevelled, she dragged herself into the room only to be struck over the head by a wooden cane.

"Don't go running in here like a hooligan! This is an infirmary, not a zoo!" Recovery Girl shook her head and hobbled over to her desk.

Tokage finally caught up to Kendo and was surprised to see her squatting on the floor and holding the top of her head. "Kendo? What happened?" All she heard from the orangette was whimpering and sniffling.

"If you're here to see the three stooges, they're all over there," She said, pointing over to a large white curtain on the far side of the room. "But don't expect to get much from them."

The girls tentatively approached the curtain and peered inside, only to gasp in shock. They had never seen anyone covered in so many bandages in their young lives. Kendo found herself standing frozen between Bakugo and Midoriya. She felt powerless. There was nothing that she could do right now to make either of them any better, and she couldn't have been there in the moment to try and stop any of this from happening. She knelt down and gently grasped their hands, trying and failing to hold back tears. These two were probably the strongest people she knew. From the moment she met them, they constantly astounded and infuriated her with the kind of stunts that they would pull. But by all accounts they were in this state because they wanted to be; because they _had_ to be. Iida had explained just how far they had gone to protect everyone from the villains that attacked at the USJ. It was so like them that it was laughable. It really made her think, ' _Is this what being a hero is really like?'_. Would this be something that she and all of her friends would have to get used to seeing and experiencing?

"Hmm, maybe this is a bad time to mention it...But why are all 3 of these guys so hot? Like, look at them, girl." She leaned towards Todoroki and smirked, "Ugh, those 1-A girls really got all this to work with?"

"Tokage! Read the room!"

"No, it's alright." The masculine voice caused Tokage to jump in surprise, her quirk activating as her limbs popped off of her body.

"Jesus Christ!" She managed to pull herself together as she held her hand over her thumping chest, "Man you scared me."

"Who are you?"

"Whoever you want me to be, hot stuff~," Tokage said with a smirk, before she was yanked away by Kendo.

"Sorry, about her. I don't think we've actually met. I'm Kendo Itsuka, class 1-B's rep and the hot mess over there is Tokage Setsuna."

"Yeah, _I'm_ the hot mess…" Setsuna muttered under her breath.

"Well, why are you here?"

' _Wow, he's as blunt as Midoriya said he was…'_ , "Well, I heard about what happened and I wanted to check on my friends to see if they were okay."

"...But we've never met."

Kendo blinked several times, "I-I meant Bakugo and Midoriya…"

Tokage found this exchange very amusing and was laughing uncontrollably behind a very taken aback Kendo, while Todoroki's expression had not once become anything that resembled any form of emotion.

"Oh. Well, they're still unconscious."

"I...can see that...Thank you?" Itsuka looked to her friend for any sort of help in navigating this excruciating conversation. Setsuna merely began laughing even harder and gave her a thumbs up.

The curtain suddenly slid open as Recovery Girl walked in. "Oh, you're awake now, sonny. Good, now I can give you some more treatment. You two, shoo!" She waved the girls away and pulled the curtain shut behind them. "You can come back tomorrow after school!"

Now out in the hall, Kendo leaned her head back onto the wall and breathed deeply. Tokage came up next to her and gave her a small grin, "Feelin' okay?"

"N-Yeah? I don't really know...The way Recovery Girl was acting made it seem like everything was gonna be fine, but...Is this the kinda stuff we are always gonna be dealing with? Doesn't it seem like a lot for first-years to handle?"

Tokage shrugged, "I guess it comes with the territory, right? Number one hero school in the world's gotta have some kinda slew of crazy stuff that sets us apart from everyone else, no?"

"I guess you're right. But still, I don't know if I'm ready for something like that. We've barely been here a week! You saw how on edge 1-A was after all this, reasonably so but you know what I mean. How long before we gotta go through something like this?"

Jokingly pondering it, Tokage tilted her head with her hand rubbing her chin, "I give it till summer break, tops."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

UA was temporarily closed the day following the USJ incident. It felt like too short of a time to process everything, but the students were back at school the day after that nonetheless.

"Alright, everyone, thank you for taking your seats. We haven't received a memo regarding who will be substituting for Aizawa-Sensei, so—"

"Morning." The class was stunned to see Aizawa shuffling through the door and into the classroom. He was so covered in bandages, they could've just as easily mistaken him for a mummy.

"Sensei, you're already back?! That's beyond 'pro'!"

Iida shot out of his seat and waved his arm up and down in front of him, "Sensei! It is wonderful to see that you're alright!"

"Can you really say that he's 'alright'? He looks like a walking roll of toilet paper!" Kaminari's observation received worried nods from his classmates.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine. After all, you have more important things to concern yourselves with. The battle hasn't really ended for you yet..."

All 17 present students gulped. Things seemed to be resolved at the USJ after All Might and the other pros showed up...Were the villains already going to strike again?

"...The annual UA Sports Festival is fast approaching, students!"

Ah yes, the Sports Festival. As much as it seemed like they were trying to make people forget, UA was a high school. Like any other high school in Japan, the Sports Festival was an integral part of each and every school year.

"I would like to wait for the class to be full again before I go into detail, but you can pass the information along. Besides, repeating myself would be more than troublesome. Anyway, UA's Sports Festival isn't like any other sports festival that you've ever been in. Yes, in principle, it's the same. But what makes this different...Is publicity! This will be the first chance for the rest of Japan and the rest of the world to see you. From the Sports Festival follows public notoriety and most importantly, reasons for Hero Agencies to be interested in you. Play your cards right, and many agencies will be asking for you. Play them wrong…And you may find yourself hard-pressed to get any pros to even sniff in your general vicinity. So don't slack off now! Like I said, the battle isn't over for you kids."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Bakugo wasn't sure exactly how long he'd been staring out of the infirmary window.

April had brought one of its signature showers at some point, the steady pitter-patter of water droplets hitting the sill had brought him out of his sleep. How long he had been sleeping for, his guess was as good as anyone's. He felt tired. Not in any usual way that he'd ever felt before. No, he felt... _drained_. Like all his energy had just been sapped away. When he woke up, he scanned his body and tested out various motions, the dots connecting in his mind. That old bat must've healed him as soon as they got back from the USJ. Katsuki remembered Deku telling him about her; how she used people's own stamina to heal them. It was useful but fucking nasty that he had to get kissed by an old-ass lady to heal his stupid injuries.

There was a myriad of emotions and questions flying around within Katsuki, all of them revolving around the bandaged boy laying in the bed next to his. Deku didn't look as bad as he thought he would, but that was because Recovery Girl had probably started treatment on him as well. He wasn't sure where to begin in his own head, let alone try and figure out where to start in questioning Deku about what had happened. Here's what he did know for sure:

Deku had somehow transformed into something completely new that he had never seen before. This form was crazy powerful and almost single-handedly beat that Nomu fucker. And most important of all, from what he could gather, Deku had no control or consciousness of what he was doing. He was going berserk; essentially a wild animal.

Katsuki wasn't as big of a nerd as Deku was, so maybe he wasn't as well versed in the nature of quirks and how they work. But there was no way in hell that _that_ was normal. The problem now was how to go about getting to the bottom of it.

" **Ah, young Bakugo! Glad to see you're awake!** " All Might greeted as he entered the infirmary carrying two bento boxes. " **Before you ask, this bento is from your mother.** " All Might placed Katsuki's meal at the foot of his bed.

"You talked to my old lady?"

" **Yes! After what happened, it's only natural for a parent to be concerned! Bakugo-san is...ahem...quite the colourful character...But rest assured! We've cleared everything up and it's all good! She's more reasonable than I initially thought. She was honestly put at ease much quicker than Young Midoriya's mother!** " All Might sweatdropped remembering his lengthy conversation with Inko that involved more crying than he'd ever witnessed in his entire life. The woman passed out from dehydration twice! Luckily, All Might was able to use his charisma and notoriety as the number 1 hero to calm her worries a tad, but he feared this would not be the last time that he would have to deal with her...Especially considering who her son was.

"All Might...What do you know about what happened to Deku at the USJ?"

' _ **SHIIIIIIT!**_ ' All Might should have anticipated that Bakugo would be so straight to the point. His protege had detailed him and his abrasive friend's relationship, particularly about how he may have been growing suspicious regarding Izuku and One For All. Bakugo was a sharp-witted young man, so he had to be very cautious to not trip up in his explanation. Luckily, as a pro hero, he had a prepared story to cover for himself! " **I'm glad you asked, young Bakugo! Developments such as these are actually not uncommon! You're familiar with the term 'Quirk Factor', yes?** "

"Yeah, that's what they call the genes and shit that allow people to use their quirks. You're saying Deku's quirk factor fucked up and went outta control?"

All Might snapped his fingers and shot out a thumb's up. " **T-T-That's right! That's exactly right. As I said, it's not as rare as you'd think! I've had many encounters where villains have had their emotions get the best of them and it affected their quirks. Think of it like how we get huge boosts in adrenaline when we are angry. We sort of lose any forms of self-preservation, right?** " All Might finished, beads of sweat running down his forehead. He had lied plenty to members of the press or talk show hosts, but there was something about lying to his student's face that threw him off.

Katsuki narrowed his eyes for a moment, causing All Might to tense up. His story seemed pretty damn believable so why was he being looked at like he had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar right before dinner?

"I guess...When I lose my shit too much my explosions get kinda out of control. But wasn't what happened to Deku too extreme?"

" **W-Well the true nature of quirks is still highly researched to this day, Young Bakugo! I suppose there are still some mysteries that need to be uncovered! Now, Recovery Girl told me that you are free to return to the dorms, but make sure to take it easy! You're cleared for action tomorrow, so I'll see you in class!** "

Katsuki collected his things and slowly made his way out of the infirmary, giving All Might one last look over his shoulder before he exited. As he made his way down the hall and back to his dorm, Katsuki kissed his teeth and shook his head in frustration. "Even All Might's not gonna tell the truth, huh?" He paused and took a moment to look out the window-wall beside him. The rain had picked up into a harsh downpour as students hurried along the brick paths to find shelter. "Just what are you hiding, Deku?" It looked like a storm was well on its way.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

" **Kid!** "

" **Heeeey! Kid!** "

" **Young Midoriya! Wake up! I never thought I'd have to use this, but...Vermont Smash!** "

Fed up with waiting for him to wake up, All Might began lightly slapping Izuku's cheek at blinding speeds until he began to stir.

"W-Wha...All Might?"

" **That's right, my boy! Gl—BLEUGHH!** " All Might puffed back down and wiped the blood off chin, "Glad to see you're awake, kid. You gave everyone quite the scare if I'm honest. How much do you remember?"

Izuku stuck his lower lip out as he rubbed his chin in thought, "Umm...I remember going to fight that Nomu with Kacchan and Todoroki-kun...We were doing okay at first but then started getting overwhelmed. After that...I-uh...I'm not sure? I actually can't remember. What did happen?"

All Might sighed and pulled a chair next Izuku's bed. "I think you should have a seat for this."

"Uhh, I'm already sitting in this bed?"

"Yeah, I know. I was talking to myself. Anyway," All Might sat down and crossed his arms, "The first thing I'm gonna ask you is in regard to your quirk. What's the largest transformation that you can achieve?"

Izuku thought for a moment, "The largest I can think of is an elephant. African Bush Elephants can reach shoulder height of about 13 feet tall. Why?"

"I thought as much. So what do you think about this?" All Might pulled his phone out and swiped to a photo, holding the screen out in front of Izuku's face. The teen's eyes widened in shock as he held the phone and stared at the massive ape standing in the centre square of the USJ. Was he seriously supposed to believe that this monster was him? "I-I-I…"

"Young Ashido managed to take that photo at some point. Why she had her phone on her person is concerning but not important right now. Believe it or not, that's you. I saw it myself. From what I can tell, you were not in control of yourself in this state. And before you worry, you didn't accidentally hurt any of your classmates. You actually had a huge hand in helping defeat the Nomu. So I'll ask you again to try your best and remember _anything_ about this form."

Izuku held his head in his hands, thoroughly shell-shocked. It was a lot to take in. Not being able to recount a significant amount of time is jarring enough as it is, but to think that he spent that blackout like _that_? He had no idea his quirk was capable of anything close to that. It didn't even look like an actual animal he'd seen before. It looked familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it. ' _Come on, Midoriya Izuku! Wrack that brain of yours, remember something! Anything!_ ' He dug through every crevice of his memory for anything that could be useful information. "Damn it! I'm sorry, All Might. I can't remember."

His teacher nodded in understanding, "Don't worry about it, kid. All that matters right now is that you helped save the day, and I'm proud of you." He gave his ward a warm grin before growing serious once more. "Now, we don't have a ton of information on what happened, but I theorize that it had something to do with One For All."

"Really? How come? I thought I got One For All and Animorph to coexist?"

"That's what I thought as well, but I don't really see any other possible explanation that makes sense. Dual quirk users are rare enough as it is, so there aren't many past examples to work with. I called in a favour, and as soon as you're back on your feet, we are going to go meet someone who should be able to help with One For All. In the meantime, take it easy, go back and see your classmates to let them know that you're alright. I'll come to see you soon."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

As soon as Izuku walked through the door, he caught sight of all his classmates before him. He hardly had a chance to greet them before he was essentially dog-piled by half his class and his dog.

"Everyone! Midoriya-san _just_ got back from the infirmary!"

At Momo's scolding, everyone got up and allowed the poor boy some breathing room.

"Nice to see you guys. I'm really happy that everyone's alright after the USJ."

"We should be saying that to you, dude! You were like super messed up, man!" Kaminari's words earned him a pulse in the sternum from Jiro.

"We are all ecstatic about your recovery, Midoriya-san. From the bottom of our hearts." Izuku couldn't stop the grin from forming on his face and he shared another hug with the rest of his class.

Izuku took a seat on the couch, where Nozomi glomped him, licking his face all over. "Aw, I missed you too, girl!" Managing to pry the canine off of his face, he let her rest her head on his lap, "So, what'd I miss?"

"I'm glad you asked," Aizawa interjected as he shuffled into the room, still heavily bandaged.

"Your classmates were nice enough to take extra notes for you to catch up with. And these,"

Aizawa dropped a stack of papers as high as the couch was onto the seat next to Izuku, "Are the assignments that you missed. Plus Ultra." He said dryly as he walked away.

Izuku looked at the tower of pages and sighed, "Plus Ultra."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Ahhh~ something about being back in the dorms is so satisfying. I know it's only been a couple of days, but I feel like I haven't been here in like 10 months!"

"Woof!"

"You got that right, girl! I bet you had a lot of fun with Uraraka-san and Yaoyorozu-san, huh? You relax while I get started on my homework. I have a lot of catching up to do, after all." Izuku sat down at his desk and got to work. Shortly into his quest, Todoroki walked in. He paid the half-and-half teen no mind and kept at his work. After several minutes of quiet, he looked up to see Todoroki standing right above him, staring at him with a blank expression. "Uhh...Yes?"

Todoroki merely locked eyes with him for a few more moments, before finally speaking. "I heard about what happened at the USJ."

"And?"

"You seem to have some hidden strengths that I wasn't aware of."

"Believe me, Todoroki-kun. I have no idea what happened. I have no idea how or why it happened either. It's honestly bugging me a little bit, hehe."

"Whatever it is, it doesn't matter. I'm still going to win the Sports Festival."

"The Sports Festival?"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"The Sports Festival, Young Midoriya!"

All Might and Izuku were in the teacher's lounge after the latter called for a midday meeting.

"I'm sure you know all the details about it, ya little nerd!"

"Of course, All Might! All of the school's departments mix into one big mishmash and organize various competitions as preliminary rounds for each grade. Then the winning students move on to compete in the main event, the fighting tournament."

"Correctomundo! In other words, it's your chance to show the world just what you're made of! I was going to talk to you about it before, but I figured you'd want to think of other things so soon after leaving the infirmary."

"Well, I mean...That makes sense, but... _To be honest, in the wake of everything leading up to now with the USJ and those villains and everything I'm still sort of trying to take everything in. And I'm already sort of already under your wing, so there's no real personal motivation to make any kind of mark on the Sports Festival. Even more than that, I—_ "

"For the love of all that is good, STOP MUTTERING!"

"Huh? Oh, sorry!" Izuku rubbed his neck sheepishly.

"Listen here, Young Midoriya. There's a significant difference between those who are always aiming for the top and those who aren't. It may not seem like a big deal at this level, but once you go out there and become a pro, it will set you apart from the run-of-the-mill people who just so happened to make it out of amateurism. I want you to go into this year's Festival, and anything else for that matter, with this in it to win it attitude. You need to be able to constantly strive to be the best version of yourself. A constant quest to try and be better than you were yesterday. We don't quit, we don't cower, we don't run, we don't settle. We endure and conquer. That's the mindset I want from you, Young Midoriya. The Mamba Mentality!"

Izuku sat with his face scrunched up in thought at his mentor's words. All Might stood up and turned towards the window, overlooking UA's campus. "Look, I'm not gonna force you to do anything. I just ask that you take a good, strong look at yourself and see exactly what I see, and take it too those other kids in the Festival." The lanky man turned back to his protege, "Now, let us LUNCH."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

As the final bell rang for the day, 1-A's students began packing their things, ready to go back to the dorms after another gruelling day at school.

"Whoooa...What the heck?!"

Ochako's exclamation brought the class's attention to the large group of students standing right in front of their classroom's door.

"Those guys are crowding the exit! What are they here for?" Mineta said shortly.

"They're trying to scope out the competition, retard. They wanna see the kids who made it through a legitimate villain attack. They're scouting us before the big battle, dickhead."

"Sorry, he gets like that when he's in neutral mode," Izuku whispered to the emotionally battered Mineta.

"It's pointless, so why don't you just go fuck yourselves, ya bunch of pricks. Ya goddamn mob"

"Bakugo-kun, don't go calling people you don't know a 'mob' right off the bat!" Iida yelled.

"I came to see what you guys are made of, yeah, but I really didn't expect you to be such a pompous asshole. At least those other two from the student council weren't like this" A messy tuft of hair said, as it weaved through the crowd. Shinso emerged from the mob and stood before Bakugo. "Are there more kids in the hero department like this?"

"The fuck did you say to me, you Troll Doll reject?!" Behind Bakugo, Iida and Midoriya were motioning for Shinso to stop talking.

"You know, there's a whole bunch of kids who wind up in the Gen Ed department because they failed the entrance exam to the hero department. And based on the results of the Sports Festival, people can even be considered for transfer into heroics. That's to say the opposite is also true...Take it from me, a dumb old Gen Ed kid...Wouldn't it be great to pull the rug out from under those hero kids while they're up on their high horses? Consider this a declaration of war." He said before walking off. As soon as he did, a small girl with blonde hair came up and bowed repeatedly.

"I'm very sorry about Shinso, please excuse us!" Futaba waved shyly to Midoriya and Yaoyorozu before scurrying off.

"Hey, you!" Tetsutetsu popped out of the crowd. "We came to check up on you guys before, but I don't wanna hear from some snot-nosed punk! I take back 1-B's hospitality!"

Still standing in the doorway, Katsuki shot a glare at the remaining students, "Anyone else got somethin' to say?!"

The crowd immediately dispersed, leaving class 1-A in the wake of the brouhaha.

"Dude, what did you just do?!"

"Yeah, now we're gonna get haters up in our grill!"

"Listen, assholes. None of that matters once you're at the top. You all got a taste of fighting villains. Show those pricks what that means when the time comes."

"Wow, that was...oddly inspiring."

"Oh, man! That's so manly!"

"He does have a point. We are all here to be at the top."

"Don't listen to that dumbass, guys!" Kaminari pleaded, "All he did was make us targets for everyone else!"

Izuku nodded resolutely to himself, ' _Kacchan is absolutely right! I never should have questioned All Might! This is what we're here for! To be the best!_ '

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

For the next two weeks, everyone's training regimens would elevate to brand new heights. The Sports Festival would be a wonderful stage to make their debuts to the world, and no one wanted to squander this chance to impress the pros. Everyone put in their best efforts, all deciding to train individually in order to not give themselves any disadvantages against each other.

For Izuku, it was time for him to meet this person that All Might seemed so anxious for him to meet. Well...maybe just anxious in general.

"Come on, leg! Stop shaking!"

He'd been this way the entire train ride. Izuku was really starting to get worried about whoever he was going to meet if the thought of them turned All Might into a teenager going to the doctor's office alone for the first time. (It's scary, okay?)

It only got worse once they got off the train at their stop and were walking down the street to their destination. Izuku winced at the looks that people walking by were giving to his teacher. In all fairness, with his skinny frame and sunken in eyes, he probably looked like a junkie of some kind.

Rounding the last corner, Izuku stopped dead. Whatever he had been expecting to see was not remotely close to what his eyes were currently fixed upon.

"Uhh...All Might? Are you sure this is the right place?" It was a dump! Izuku had never seen a more run-down place in his life. It looked like someone had taken all the trash he had cleaned from the beach in the summer and tried to make a sculpture out of it.

"Unfortunately...yes I am," He let out a desolate sigh, "Let's get this over with."

The pair walked up the steps and stopped at the door. All Might pushed Izuku forward and pointed towards the doorbell.

"Seriously, All Might?! Jesus!" He turned around to see the supposed greatest hero in the world cowering on the edge of the stoop. Izuku shook his head and put his hero suit case under his arm so that he could press the doorbell. They waited for a few minutes, but there was no answer.

"Hello?" Izuku tried to call out through the wood. He put his ear to the door to try and hear for any signs of people and his weight caused it to slowly creak open.

"That's strange that the door would be unlocked…"

Shrugging in response, Izuku decided to just go for it and pushed the door all the way open. He stepped inside, struggling to see in the darkness.

"It's really dark, I can't really say anythi—OH MY GOD!"

Izuku's scream caused All Might to rush into the apartment as well. He frantically patted the wall in search of the light switch, finally finding and flipping it to reveal a small elderly man - in what looked to be some kind of hero costume - lying face down in a pool of thick red fluid.

Before his student could let out another terrified scream, All Might covered his mouth with his hand.

"After all these years, you'd think that he'd get a new bit…"

"Toshinori!" The old men yelled as he leapt to his feet and smacked All Might over the head with a wooden cane, "You're late!"

"Ouch! I-I'm sorry, Sensei!"

"Semphei?!" Izuku yelled through All Might's fingers.

"Oh, sorry." He released Izuku's mouth. "Yes, Young Midoriya...This is Gran Torino. He's an old pro...and used to be my teacher at UA." He said with a shiver.

"That's right! How come you never visit me until you need something, you little brat!"

Under other circumstances, Izuku would be more worried/amused with how All Might was getting sonned so hard, but he had other things in mind.

"Former...teacher?!" His eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. "I-I-I-It is an honour to meet you, sir!" Bowing up and down as fast as he could, he paid no mind to the looks he was getting from All Might, "Wait, how come I've never heard of any pro named Gran Torino?" He pulled a stack of notebooks out of his backpack and began combing through them at a blinding pace.

" _This_ is the kid you picked?"

All Might pinched the bridge of his nose, "H-He has his moments. Believe me, he's got a ton of potential. Now, I believe we should not waste a moment and get right down the business!"

Gran Torino nodded, "Alright, kid." Izuku looked up from his books, "How well have you honed in One For All up until this point."

The green-haired teen hopped to his feet, "Well I can essentially control about 28 percent of One For All, spreading 7 percent to each of my limbs, and—What?" Izuku lost his train of thought when he noticed Gran Torino giving him a bewildered expression. Then, faster than he could react, he had been smacked over the head by the old man's cane.

"OWW!"

"Are you some kind of idiot?! That's not how One For All works! What in the world made you think that it makes sense for you to be able to isolate increments of your quirk like that? That doesn't even make sense!" He struck Izuku over the head several more times, "If you have 7 percent in one part of your body you have 7 percent in ALL of your body! Toshinori!" He directed his malice at All Might, who also suddenly received a bonk over the head. "Why didn't you explain this?!"

"Y-Y-You know I'm not good with m-math, Sensei!"

Gran Torino rubbed his temples in frustration, "Look, brat. Quirks don't work like that! You can't turn them on and _then_ segment them! You either turn them on in one area or everywhere!"

Izuku now sat slumped on the floor with a rain cloud over his head, "I didn't even know how my quirk worked all this time…"

"So basically, you can use 7 percent of One For All properly...Not bad, but still not great. Toshi could use almost all of it when he was your age!"

The rain cloud over Izuku's head only darkened and expanded.

"We're essentially gonna have to rebuild you from the ground up. Toshi! Since you are an idiot and can't even understand the basics, go to the supermarket and buy us dinner!" The skinny man obliged without complaint and vanished out the door. "Alright, kid. Let's get to work. First, explain to me exactly what you have been doing and are able to do with One For All. And stop moping! It's not your fault Toshinori is a blockhead!"

Izuku picked himself up and breathed deeply, "Okay, so I came up with a way to use One For All more easily by spreading out the amount I could handle throughout my body. I call it Full Cowl. I guess the amount is 7 percent as you said before...And from there I worked to incorporate my natural quirk, which allows me to transform into different animals."

"Hmm, I see. Toshi told me about what happened at the USJ, and before you ask, no I am not sure about what could have happened. But what I CAN do is help you get better with OFA so hopefully, that doesn't happen again. Show me this Full Cowl with your other quirk."

Izuku nodded as he spread his feet and bent into an athletic stance. He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, "Here we go. One For All: Full Cowl!"

…

"Are you gonna do it or what?"

"Huh?" Izuku opened his eyes in confusion, and much to his disbelief, his skin hadn't begun glowing green and there were no orange markings in sight. He screwed his eyes shut, visibly straining to call out his gifted quirk, only to feel it in small sputters, as if he were a car in the winter that wouldn't start. Small strands of green light shot off of him feebly before he grew tired and gave up. "W-What...Why can't I call out One For All?! I can feel it, but it won't go anywhere!" He was struck over the head before he could freak out any more.

"Calm down!" Gran Torino stroked his beard thoughtfully for a moment, "One For All is still within you, so you didn't lose it. How about your animal quirk?" Izuku easily transformed to and from a tiger with ease. "Hmm…" The old man crossed his arms and chewed his lip for a few moments. "Wait!" he exclaimed, "This reminds me of something that happened with Nana! Don't move!" Gran Torino suddenly rocketed out of the room using some sort of propulsion that expelled from the bottom of his feet. This stunned Izuku and before he even realized it, he had a notebook in his hands to write down what quirk he may have just seen.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Here is your change, sir! Have a wonderful day!"

All Might bowed to the clerk and left the grocery store, plenty of food in hand.

As he walked down the street, he let out a sigh. "I really dropped the ball, huh. It's not my fault, math is hard! Fractions are so confusing! I'm the Symbol of Peace not the Symbol of Pi! I may not know math very well but I'm not stupid!"

"Excuse me, sir!" He turned to see a young woman walk up to him, "Do you have change for a 5000 yen bill?"

"Ah, certainly! Just give me one moment, miss!" All Might fished his wallet out of his pocket and began digging through the coin compartment. "Alright, 5000 Yen…Uh...Uhhhhh…"

"Um...sir? Your head is smoking!"

"Hang on, gimme a minute! I CAN DO THIS!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

After about 15 minutes of anxious waiting, Izuku finally saw Gran Torino return to the room carrying a large storage bin. He plopped the container on the floor and began digging through it.

"Let's see...Let's see...Aha!" Torino pulled himself out of the bin and held out a beaten-up book of some kind.

Wordlessly, he handed it to Izuku, who inspected it all over.

"What is this...a journal?" He flipped through the many pages of entries written down on the worn pages.

"That's right. That journal belonged to Toshinori's predecessor."

"You don't mean…!"

He nodded firmly, "That book belonged to Shimura Nana, the 7th wielder of One For All. I believe it will give you the answers you're looking for. Read through it and I'll check up on you later."

"Yes, sir!"

Torino left and Izuku took a seat on the couch. He spent a few moments merely admiring the object in his hands. "This journal belonged to All Might's mentor and the 7th holder of One For All…" The fact that he was holding such an insanely awesome relic was setting off his fanboyism, but he held back. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and opened it to the first page.

Minutes turned to hours as Izuku read page after page. The journal recounted endless tales of Nana's heroic endeavours over her life leading from her receiving One For All, to her love life and family, to her time training All Might after passing it down to him. However, the pages end soon after All Might begins his second year at UA. Curious, Izuku backtracked and reread the journal over and over. After the fifth read, he found himself visibly frustrated as he failed to pick up on any answers to his problems with One For All. "What am I missing here?" Izuku went back to Nana's early days when she was training with One For All in search of any hints. "Let's see…Hey, wait a second…" Flipping one of the pages, he noticed that it seemed thicker than the others. He pushed the page down into the book and noticed a slight opening along the edge of it. "These pages are stuck together!" Izuku dug through his bag for his keys and used it to split the pages entirely. His eyes widened as the hidden contents of the journal were revealed to him. Or so he thought.

He had to read the pages several times to make sure he wasn't reading it wrong. "What does any of this mean?! It's nonsense!"

He had to be missing something! There's no way the hidden pages would have been just full of gibberish for no reason! "Okay, Midoriya Izuku! Focus! You can figure it out!"

 _J qnax jufjhb jwbfnab cqn ljuu_

 _Bnaerwp cqn ynxyun, Xwn Oxa Juu_

 _Cqn byrarc xo cqn lqxbnw rb ljaarnm frcqrw_

 _Cx ljuu xw cqn yjbc hxd ljuu cqaxdpq hxda cfrw_

Understandably, Izuku was confused. Every other page was written in Japanese, so it was highly unlikely that it was another language. It had to be some sort of code. But how was he supposed to figure out what kind of code it was?! "Think, man, think!" HIs bright young mind was chugging as hard as it could, and he felt like the answer was on the tip of his tongue. "I wish I knew how to decipher codes! There's gotta be a better way!"

Wait.

Izuku facepalmed harder than he ever had in his entire life. How stupid could he be? He had the answer right in front of him the entire time and it took him this long to think of it!

Pulling out his phone, Izuku navigated to the app store. "Took 2 freakin' seconds…"

After downloading 1 of hundreds of available decoder apps, he snapped a photo of the code and waited for it to be processed.

"Alright, let's see here…" Apparently the code was something called the Caesar Cipher. It was one of the most popular codes that dated back centuries. The gist of it was letters were shifted by a certain number, in this case by 9. "So if every letter is shifted by 9, the code really says…"

 _A hero always answers the call_

 _Serving the people, One For All_

 _The spirit of the chosen is carried within_

 _To call on the past, you call through your twin_

"...Now what does this mean?!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"I have returned!" All Might closed the door behind him and brought the groceries to the kitchen.

"Toshinori!" All Might had no time to respond before Gran Torino came firing out of the hallway and headbutted him right in the face. As the Symbol of Peace lay on the ground in pain, his old teacher stood above him shaking his fist. "You've been gone for 3 hours! The grocery store is 5 blocks away! What were you doing?!"

"I'm sorry, Sensei!" He bowed his head to the floor, "I got uh...Held up!"

"Yeah yeah, just get to cookin'!"

All Might pulled the vegetables out of his grocery bag and began washing them, "How is Young Midoriya doing?"

Torino didn't look up from the grocery bags he was digging through, "He's been trying to crack some riddle from Nana's old journal this entire time. I thought he was supposed to be smart. Hey, where's the Taiyaki? You're useless, Toshinori! You listening?" He looked up to see a cloud of dust and an apron floating where All Might once stood. "Toshinori?"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

" **YOUNG MIDORIYA!** " All Might had buffed up in order to reach the teen as fast as possible. He skidded to a stop behind the couch Izuku had situated himself on and leaned over the back of it. " **Is it true that you have Master's Journal?!** "

"Busy." Izuku dismissed his teacher with a flick of the wrist, causing him to instantly deflate.

"Wh—Young Midoriya!"

Izuku suddenly spun around and grabbed All Might by the collar, their faces inches away from each other. The green-haired teen looked absolutely deranged. His eyes were bloodshot and he was blinking rapidly.

"I...have spent...the last 3 hours...staring at this riddle...and I have NOTHING! It's killing me, All Might! I can feel my brain cells melting as we speak!"

*SMACK* "Get ahold of yourself Young Midoriya!"

Izuku shuddered and blinked several times, "Thanks, All Might. I needed that."

"Don't mention it, kid. Now go clean yourself up, you look terrible." All Might gently pried the journal out of Izuku's hand and pushed him towards the washroom.

Izuku entered the washroom and leaned on the countertop. He splashed cold water on his face a few times and took a look in the mirror.

"I need to figure out what that riddle means! The spirit of the chosen is carried within...To call on the past, you call through your twin...twin...twin...I don't have a twin! To call on your past...call through your twin…" He stared at his reflection, emerald eyes twinkling in the light of the room, "Wait! My reflection in the mirror is like my twi—AHHH!"

*POOF*

"What just happened?!" Izuku opened his eyes after a blinding light emanating from the mirror had essentially flashbanged him, scared and shocked to realize that he couldn't move. He found himself in some sort of grayish-white expanse of nothingness. For some reason, it felt incredibly familiar to him. He had seen something like this before...But where?

"Finally!" Izuku heard a voice call from behind him, but he still couldn't move to turn around and see who it was. "You finally figured it out!" The distinctly female voice didn't sound familiar. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and before him revealed a dark-haired woman wearing a dark sleeveless bodysuit under a large white cape.

"W-Who are you?" He couldn't help but gawk at the incredibly beautiful woman. "W-Where am I?"

The woman let out a chuckle, putting her hands on her hips as she leaned closer to Izuku. "I guess I can't blame you for being so on edge." She leaned back and crossed her arms under her large bust, causing Izuku to blush profusely and avert his gaze. "Ha, good to know you're in working order, kid! Alright, enough jokes. I'll get down to brass tacks. It's nice to officially meet you, Midoriya Izuku, 9th wielder of One For All! I'm Shimura Nana, 7th wielder of One For All!"

"...I'm sorry I must have heard you incorrectly. I could've sworn you just said you were the 7th wielder of One For All, Shimura Nana. Like All Might's Master, Shimura Nana."

"Nope, you heard right. That's exactly what I said and that's exactly who I am!" Nana finished with a victory sign.

"Hmm, I thought so...WHAT?!"

"I like you, kid! You're funny!" Nana managed to squeak out amidst a fit of laughter. She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "So! You figured out the riddle! Good on ya! So that must mean One For All is giving you some trouble?"

Still sort of shell-shocked, Izuku merely nodded dumbly.

"Well, you know, don't get discouraged. I've been watching, well... _we've_ been watching and you're doing a great job!"

"Wait, we?" For a moment, 6 faint figures became visible behind Nana, all with glowing eyes, "Oh my gosh...Are those…?"

"On the money, kid. All of the past wielders of One For All live within you. We've been watching over you ever since Toshi passed it down. There's a whole bunch of stuff about One For All that you have no idea about, but it will all come in due time. But I'm pretty surprised...You don't remember anything about the doors?"

"The...doors?" Izuku wondered aloud, "What doors?"

Nana pursed her lips, "Hmm, well then it's not my place to say right now. Don't worry about it."

"Alright, I guess. Wait, so if you're actually the spirit of a past wielder of One For All...does that mean we're like in my head?"

"Pretty much."

"So were you in All Might like this too?"

"Well, yes and no. We never really had to come out and talk to Toshi. He figured out all this stuff on his own." She sweatdropped at Izuku's sudden depressed aura, "No no no! Don't get it twisted. Well...Toshi _was_ a natural. A real freak of nature when it came to fighting and honing in One For All and all that...But what I meant was that he never had the problem that you have or that any of us have had. You see...Toshinori was quirkless."

Izuku's eyes widened in shock. All Might used to be quirkless? The world's greatest hero...The strongest man in the world...before One For All...He had no powers…

"Toshinori was special in that way. But more than that, he was special because I saw in him what he saw in you and what my master saw in me. The heart of a true hero. The will of a champion. The fire within that drives us to be the best there can be for the good of the world. So chin up and keep working hard. Speaking of which...we need to talk about your little issue."

"You know how to help?"

Nana scoffed and playfully waved Izuku off, "Of course! I went through the exact same thing when I was learning how to use it. As you know, One For All isn't like other quirks. It's not naturally within you like your actual quirk. Think of it sort of like a virus. It's a foreign entity that enters your system. So your body is trying to fight it. Of course, it's not exactly as scientific as that. The thing that makes One For All so special as a quirk is that, as it has been passed down, it's sort of gained something like a mind of its own. I'm not sure if us being here is the reason or us being here is a byproduct of it, but you get the idea. All Might may have accepted you as his successor, but One For All may not have just yet."

"B-But...What else can I do? I trained so hard! I've been training with All Might all this time!"

"Let me ask you something...What kind of hero do you want to be?"

Izuku thought for a moment if there was any trick to the question. Why else would she be asking it, though? "I...want to be like All Might! I want to be a hero that everyone can depend on! I want to save everyone with a smile, just like him!"

He waited for Nana's reaction, but her expression was unreasonable. After a few moments, she smiled tenderly at him. "That's not a bad answer, kid. I think if you keep working hard and make sure your ideals are right for someone who bears the burdens that come with One For All, then you'll be okay. One For All will know when it's right to fully accept you as the true next wielder."

Izuku beamed at the dark-haired woman before quirking an eyebrow, "Wait...that's it?"

"That's it. You are gonna have some catching up to do with One For All, but with Sorahiko and Toshi there to help you, I think you're in good hands for the moment."

Izuku's vision started to grow blurry and he felt himself being lifted up into the air.

"Good luck, kid. Maybe we'll talk again soon!"

As Izuku's body fully faded away, Nana let out a deep sigh. The 6 shadowy figures returned and surrounded her.

" _ **You saw it yourself, Seventh. He is not yet ready to accept One For All. You cannot act on your own volition against the will of the rest of us! The boy is fortunate he can pull out any of it out at all!**_ " One of the ominous figures spoke out.

"Oh come on, Fourth! He has the potential to be better than all of us put together!" Nana argued, "He just needs some time to figure things out! It's not his fault that his principles are built that way, he's still a kid! How could he _not_ idolize Toshi and want to be just like him!"

" _ **Time is something that we can ill afford to waste! If the boy doesn't smarten up soon, then everything we've all worked for will have been for nothing! One For All will never accept a punk like that!**_ " Another voice shouted.

"Master!"

" _ **I think you are being too hard on him, Fourth, Sixth. He is still young, younger than any of us who received One For All as a second quirk.**_ "

"See! Madam Third agrees with me!"

" _ **We have made our decision already, so I see no reason for this argument. The fairest course of action was to regress his control over One For All in order to help him hone it in more effectively and motivate him to work harder. Besides, there is still the issue with the young man's other quirk. That is a situation that could not have been foreseen by any of us. Our agreement still stands, however. Whenever you choose to offer him your aid is completely up to you, and if you're still on the fence about it then you can let him prove his worth in whatever way you wish. All we shall do for now is continue to watch over him and hope for the best.**_ "

" _ **Yes, Lord First.**_ "

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Izuku found himself back in the bathroom. He looked around and pinched himself to make sure what he was seeing was right. "Keep working hard…" He took one last look at himself in the mirror. "You can do this. The past wielders are counting on you now too." Nodding resolutely, he exited the bathroom and returned to his teacher and teacher's teacher. He had a lot of work to do.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

To most people, UA stands out as the premier hero school in all of Japan for aspiring heroes to attend. But in fact, there are many schools across the country that form the backbone of the hero society and produce all of the biggest heroes that protect and serve the people.

With all of the attention and praise UA receives, it is reasonable that there would be some resentment or disdain for the institution from the other hero schools in the country.

Most notably, Ketsubutsu Academy High School has a famous rivalry with UA that dates back to when some of the current staff members were students.

No slouch themselves, Ketsubutsu has its own list of impressive Alumni who have become pro heroes. Some have even gone back to teach, like at UA.

"Hey, class! What do you call an alligator detective? An investi-gator!"

Perhaps not the most prominent pro-hero that had graduated from Ketsubetsu, but definitely one of the most loved by the students, was one Fukukado Emi. An outgoing, fun-loving, cheerful ball of sunshine, Ms. Joke lives up to her hero name on a regular basis when she does all she can to make people smile.

"Quick, extra credit if you can tell a good joke! Makabe!"

The blue teen was quick on the draw. "How do billboards talk? Sign language!"

"Love it! A+! Shindo!"

"When's a door not a door? When it's ajar!"

"Whoa, sweet wordplay! A+! Nakagame!"

"Uhhh!" The blonde stalled while she quickly tried to come up with something funny, "Uhh! What's brown and sticky?"

"What?" Emi asked obligatorily, leaning forward over her desk in anticipation.

"A...s-stick?"

The room went completely silent. Tatami's stomach lurched as her classmates and teacher stared at her blankly. To her relief, they all suddenly broke out in intense laughter.

"Good one, Nakagame! A+! Alright, that's all the time we have today. Remember to review for your quizzes tomorrow!"

"Yes, Joke-Sensei~!" They all saluted before beginning to pack their things.

"So, Nakagame~" Shindo called as he stood in front of her desk, "What are you up to this weekend? If you're free I was wondering if you wanted to do something or something or whatever...Haha, you know I don't know it's chill whatever if you're down for it…"

Tatami stopped packing her books and grimaced. Shindo was a nice guy, and they had been friends since their first year...But he had developed a crush on her...and she hadn't told anyone outside of her close female friends about Izuku. She wasn't sure if she was ready to yet either given how Ketsubutsu students usually feel about UA students. _Especially_ Shindo.

"Uhhh, well actually I…" She could see him start to get his hopes up and desperately tried to think of a way out of it.

"Hey, Tatami-chan! Remember this weekend we're having a slumber party at my place!"

"O-Oh yeah! Thanks, Rin-chan!" That's what best friends were for. She gave Shindo an apologetic smile, "S-Sorry, I have plans already…"

"O-Oh! Nah, don't worry about it!" He smiled at her and rubbed his neck sheepishly, "S-Some other time then!" He said before rushing back to his desk where he seemed to be scolding himself under his breath.

As Tatami sighed and slumped in her chair, her friend Rin leaned over to her. "Dude! When are you gonna just tell him you like someone else already! I can't keep bailing you out!"

"I know, I know! It's just hard okay! I already turned him down once last year and he took it as a challenge to try and win me over! You saw that look on his face! I feel bad!" Her cheeks took on a pink hue, "And...Izuku and I haven't made anything official yet...You really he likes me?"

Rin rolled her eyes, "Please. You've asked me this dumb question so many times. You guys talk to each other like every other day and it's so obvious. Even when he didn't message you back for a couple of days he contacted you as soon as he could, right? He's crazy about you, for sure!"

Tatami smiled, twirling her hair in her slender fingers as her thoughts once again wandered towards the green-haired teen.

"You're gonna confess to him the next time you see him, right?"

"R-Rin-chan! It's not that easy, okay! I have to emotionally prepare myself to even think of that. Besides, I don't even know if I'm gonna see him soon. I was planning to go surprise him over summer break, but that's so far away!"

"Nakagame! Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Huh? Yes, sensei!" Tatami bid farewell to her friend and hurried up to the front of the now mostly empty room. She saw Shindo also standing before their teacher's desk, who gave her a beaming smile.

"Alright, so as you know...It's that time of year again. Usually, the class rep and vice rep are the ones that come with me, but something came up and Toteki can't go." The green-haired pro turned to her student with a grin, "So, what do you say? You wanna come scouting with Shindo and I, Nakagame?"

Tatami was _stunned._

This was not happening right now. This was not happening! Was she hearing what she thought she was hearing?! Her heart began to beat like crazy, and she felt butterflies fluttering all throughout her body. Some divine power was giving her some next level good luck! She somehow accidentally spoke it into existence!

She dumbly nodded, eyes wide and unblinking,

But wait! Was she ready for that? It was so much sooner than expected! What if she did something dumb and embarrassed herself completely? She could never live that down! She'd have to live inside her own torso for the rest of her life!

As Tatami began to overload, she felt the room spinning and everything got fuzzy. The last thing she heard before she fainted was the jubilant declaration from her teacher.

"Great! Get ready, you two...in 2 weeks, we are headed to the UA Sports Festival!"


	12. Chapter 12

**What's up, guys? We back at it.**

 **Midterms are next week, which means after that I get a week to just be a bum. Can't fucking wait.**

 **I got a lot of responses, mostly in agreeance, with my little rant last time. I still stand by my guns and hope all of you guys will too.**

 **But enough of that, it's a time for celebration!**

 **All-Star Weekend has come once again!**

 **A Boogie is dropping an album tomorrow!**

 **COD: Modern Warfare Season 2!**

 **Lots to be happy about.**

 **As always, enjoy the chapter. Follow, like, review the shit out of it; The whole enchilada.**

* * *

In what seemed like mere moments, two weeks had quickly come and gone. The annual UA Sports Festival was getting ready to kick off, which meant for the participating students it was time to either shine or fizzle out on what was the largest stage of their young lives so far.

For most, the time leading up to the Sports Festival was spent improving and growing in whatever ways possible to give themselves an edge to outmatch their peers. Brand new moves, techniques and strategies were created to maximize the potential of their quirks and fully display their talents.

For one particular student, however, the training period was spent on something that he had never had to experience in his 15 years of living.

Rehabilitation.

Having lost control and attunement with One For All, he spent almost all of his time working towards getting it back to what it was in the first place. Every single day after school and on the weekend, Izuku was in the same room, training with All Might and Gran Torino. It was disheartening that all his hard work had suddenly been wiped away, but Gran Torino helped him a lot to put it in perspective. He had already felt like Izuku needed to remodel his basic understanding and application of One For All, so this setback served as a blessing in disguise. It gave him the chance to really work with his quirk more efficiently and effectively, with both his previous experience and the tutelage of his two teachers there to guide him. Callisthenics, basic movements, and stances were pounded into him day in and day out.

Despite his desire for Izuku to make a huge splash right away in the Festival with his abilities, All Might also saw some benefit in this. He didn't believe that Izuku was the type to need it, but this learning experience would be humbling for the young man and keep him grounded. Despite the fact that he couldn't really relate to Izuku's struggles with One For All, he still saw the value in being able to rework the quirk from top to bottom with a much more streamlined plan in place. Not like there was any other choice anyway. And he wouldn't say it to the kid in worry of it going to his head, he was plenty damn strong already!

A small part of Izuku still hadn't come to terms with it. He worked as hard as he could for the past two weeks and liked to think he had improved past his initial stage by at least some degree. But he still felt like he had failed All Might and all of the previous users of One For All by not being up to snuff. He tried to use the reassurance that Nana, Gran Torino, and All Might gave him to assuage these thoughts, but they still lingered in the back of his mind even as he was packing his things to head back to UA.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye for now, kid. Remember these two weeks and don't flub up One For All again! I'm not gonna be around much longer to clean up after you and Toshi's stupidity!" Gran Torino stopped shaking his fist angrily and smirked, "You're a good kid, brat. Don't let it go to your head."

"Yes, sir!" Izuku bowed in respect, "Thank you very much for everything!"

"Toshi!" His yell caused All Might to stand as rigid as a board. "Take care of this embryo! Be a better teacher to him! And visit me from time to time, you ungrateful punk!"

"I-I'll d-d-do my best, S-Sensei!" Bidding farewell to the old hero, Toshinori and Izuku left the apartment, headed for the cab waiting to take them back to UA.

"So," The lanky man began as he stepped into the vehicle next to his student, "How do you feel? Ready?"

"I...I think so…" Izuku sat staring at his lap, "It just feels so weird...Spending all that time training with you and Gran Torino and I basically feel like I haven't progressed at all…"

"Well, in theory, that is sort of true, but was this not a good learning experience? Perhaps now your peers will be closer to being on your level and can give you a run for your money, haha!"

Izuku smiled as he stared out the window watching the buildings and pedestrians pass the car by, "I can't wait to see how everyone has been training and what they are capable of now…"

"Well you won't have to wait long, my boy. We're here."

Izuku immediately rolled his window down and stuck his head out to see the spectacle that was the UA Sports Festival.

From the dense sea of people to the countless rows of vendor stalls, it looked even more impressive than Izuku had envisioned it. Right away he spotted several pros walking among the crowds, either making their way towards the stages or partaking in the arrays of food and drinks that the festival had to offer. Music was blaring, fireworks were going off; it was pandemonium. Izuku also noticed that the entrance to the Freshmen stage was much larger than that of the other two stages.

"Looks like there'll be plenty of eyes on you today, kid. Welcome to the big leagues. Welcome...to the UA Sports Festival."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Man, the festival is packed this year!"

Mt. Lady, Death Arms, and Kamui Woods maneuvered through the sea of people, finally reaching a small patch of open space. The sole female breathed deeply as she could finally have some personal space. "Finally! I thought I was gonna suffocate in that crowd!"

"Do you still think we'll be able to get into the First-Year event at this rate, Kamui?" Death Arms asked.

Said hero shrugged to his taller companion, "I don't think we could use our reputations to get in at this point. The security is too thick and there may not even be any space left. Besides...Yu is already up to her old tricks." Kamui pointed towards Mt. Lady, who was flirting with several stall vendors at once to receive free food and drinks.

"Doesn't that bother you, dude? That your girl always teases these guys?"

The Arbor Hero shook his head dismissively, "To be honest, it did at first. But I know how Yu feels about me and this keeps her from burning a hole in _my_ pocket."

"Shin-kun! Death Arms!" The blonde walked up to them excitedly carrying dozens of helpings of takoyaki, "Score!"

"You know what, I see your point now, Kamui."

"Yu! What are you gonna do with all that food?! You can't eat all of that!"

"Pfft, says you," She immediately handed Kamui the stacks of boxes and brushed her hands clean, "Now be a dear and hold on to that while I secure us some beverages!"

Before he could protest, Yu had run off into the crowd, vanishing from sight. Shinji growled under his breath and turned to Death Arms, who guffawed.

"Hey, don't look mad at me. You're the cheapskate who won't drop the cash on his hungry-hungry heroine."

Shinji dropped his head and resigned to his fate. On days like these, he strongly contemplated whether fighting dastardly villains was a sound upgrade over being whipped by his greedy girlfriend. Well, he supposed the day wouldn't be all bad. The current crop of UA students showed tremendous promise from what he had been hearing through the grapevine, and watching them from the JumboTron outside the stages wasn't all that bad.

"Kamui! Come on, get over here! The first event is about to start!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Everyone! Are your preparations complete?! The first event is almost ready to begin and we're set to enter in no time!"

Iida's nagging was promptly brushed aside by the rest of his class, who all had their own versions of final preparations before their big debut.

"Take it easy, Iida! You're stressing me out, dude!"

"Yeah, the class rep and vice rep aren't losing it, give it a rest!"

As Iida sulked in the corner, brandishing himself for stepping out of line and acting like the class rep once again, another student caught the attention of everyone else.

"Midoriya." Todoroki had broken the silence he had held since entering the waiting room, now standing before Midoriya with a stony, yet somehow still intense expression. "Objectively speaking, I think you and I stand at the top in terms of practical strength. You've managed to catch All Might's attention, haven't you? I suppose that's none of my business, but...I said it before and I'll say it again: I'm going to beat you and win the Sports Festival."

"Oh, what's this? A declaration of war from Todoroki to Midoriya? What a juicy plotline!" Kaminari's face was then suddenly shoved aside by the angry blonde sitting beside him, who had just heard himself being completely ignored as the strongest person in the class.

"The fuck did you say, you half-and-half bastard?! Who the fuck says you stand at the top around here?! You gonna take that shit, Deku?!"

"Whoa, man!" Kirishima sprang from his seat to try and play peacekeeper, "What's with all the belligerence all of a sudden?! Don't start beef right before we gotta go out and compete!"

"I'm not here to make friends or play nice. But whatever."

Silent up until this point, Izuku clenched his jaw and stood his ground. Being around Katsuki for so long did give him a _bit_ of a competitive streak, so he wasn't one to back down from being fronted on. He stood strong, serving Todoroki's stare back at him with full force.

"You can think whatever you want about how strong you are or what you think you can do...But don't think you can just stand there trying to intimidate me. You may be a recommended student but I beat you in that test at the beginning of this year, didn't I?"

"That was—"

"And I really don't think it's smart for you to stand up here belittling your classmates like this...You really underestimate their skill sets and how hard they've all been working up until now. As far as I'm concerned, I have nothing to prove to you. All I care about is going out there and giving everything that I have to offer. The only person here that I'm trying to beat is myself. Maybe you should think about that."

Izuku's words seemed to give his classmates a boost in morale, as everyone seemed to be a bit more pumped up.

"Man, I didn't know Midoriya had that in him...That was pretty dope." Jiro idly commented.

"Pretty ballsy if you ask me," Ojiro added, "Guess the strongest ones have gotta have the bark to go along with their bite."

"Pretty sure you have that backwards, but same difference."

"Ahem," Momo cleared her throat as she finished enjoying a large quirk-fuelling meal. "I believe it is time for us all to make our way out to the stage, yes?"

Izuku jolted in surprise as he looked at the clock, "Oh, you're right! Alright, guys! Let's go out there and do our best!"

"Plus Ultra!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"GOOOOOOOD MOOOORRRNING SWEET WORLD! Welcome one, welcome all to...The UA Sports Festival, YEAAAH!" The crowd erupted into cheers, further fuelling Present Mic's love for commentating, "Where the Hero World's inchoate little eggs go head-to-head in our annual grand competition! Watch as these kids aim for each other's throats and lay it all on the line—For glory! You lucky folks get to see our residential rugrats in action on this beautiful day! So give a warm welcome to your UA First Year competitors!"

The building practically shook with excitement as the confetti cannons fired off, signalling the entrance of the Freshman competitors.

"And let me guess, all you punks and hooligans came to see _them_ , right? The fresh-faced miracle group that held off a mass villain assault with wills of steel!" The explosion of cheers was more than enough in reply to Mic's rhetorical question, "Here they are...The Department of Heroics: Class 1-A!"

And out they came. The 20 most talked-about 15-year-olds in the country slowly strode out into the arena amidst an uproar from the tens of thousands of viewers around them.

Like the rest of his classmates, Iida gazed around the stands with wide eyes, "Can we really draw out our best performances with so many eyes scrutinizing us from all directions?!"

"Jeez, they're really praising the hell out of us...I'm getting nervous now! You alright, Bakugo?"

"The fuck do I look like to you? No way I'm nervous. You're just getting stage fright, pussy."

"And the rest of the Freshman classes as well!" Mic continued, "Following class B, here come classes C to E from Gen Ed...followed by F to H from the Department of Support! Now for the Department of Management's…"

Mic's treatment of the non-hero courses clearly rubbed some students the wrong way, causing a steady stream of unhappy murmuring amongst those classes.

"Now now, play nice, kids!" Midnight commanded from her place on the raised platform before the students. "Hello, all! It is I, the Rated-R Superstar, Midnight! I will be the chief referee for the Freshman stage this year! Now, player rep! Get up here! Bakugo Katsuki of 1-A!"

"What? Kacchan is our rep?! Who thought that was a good idea?!"

"Whaddya mean, Midoriya? He placed first in the entrance exam, right?"

"Yeah, the _heroics_ exam…" One Gen Ed kid in the back of the crowd added spitefully.

Katsuki trudged up to Midnight with his hands dug into his pockets and his posture as curved as an ampersand. He stood before the microphone, still with his uncaring expression as he calmly stared straight ahead of himself.

"Sensei. I'm gonna win this whole damn tournament."

"Ah man, I knew he was gonna do that!" Izuku grabbed his head in frustration. If there was any guarantee for a speech about a competition to go wrong, Kacchan would come through!

Katsuki's eloquent speech was met by a tsunami of boos and jeers from the other classes.

"You'll all be great stepping stones for me on my way up, for sure." the ash-blonde retorted as he signed a throat slash with his thumb.

"This bastard is unbelievably overconfident! I'm gonna be the one to knock him off his damn high horse and crush him!" Tetsutetsu snarled through ground teeth.

Izuku stared at his best friend with a skeptical glance. No, everyone was wrong. ' _Kacchan isn't just being overconfident...He's putting a target on his back on purpose! Leave it to Kacchan to take whatever measures necessary to try and make his potential victory all that more impressive…'_

"Alright, now that that's taken care of, let's move directly onto our first event! The preliminaries as they're called! Lots of fine folk end up choking on their tears at this stage every year! Behold! Feast your eyes on the JumboTron!"

The giant screen flashed repeatedly, building anticipation for the first event. Suddenly, the large block letters appeared, sending a roar of excitement throughout the audience.

 **SCAVENGER HUNT**

"A Scavenger Hunt! It's a race between all 11 classes! Every one of you will receive a series of clues that will lead you all over campus! You'll know you solved a clue correctly because there will be a UA staff droid there to give you the next one! Use your brains and your speed to work your way through the clues and find your way to the finish line! And since this is supposed to be a stage for you all to show the world what you've got, you're free to use your quirks however you like—as in you're all free to do anything so long as you stay within the campus walls!" Midnight posed seductively as dozens of droids went around handing out envelopes to the competitors. "Once I give the cue for you to open your first clues, the hunt is on!"

The final clue was handed out and all of the droids fell in line below Midnight. She raised her arms straight in the air as the competitors readied themselves. "Ready? Let the hunt...BEGIN!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Almost immediately, a glaring difference formed among the contestants. About two-thirds of the first-year students remained in the starting area to open and read their clues, while the remaining third wasted no time in leaving the stadium and getting a running start.

Being one of those students, Izuku tore his envelope open mid-stride, quickly scanning the contents as he went. Out of the corner of his eye he saw bodies swiftly moving in every direction.

"Alright, let's see here…"

 _The first clue to step in your path could act as one heck of a giant bird-bath._

 _If your thinking is shallow, you'll never ascend,_

 _Think too hard and you'll go off the deep end._

"Giant bird bath...So it's gotta be water...Shallow...deep end…The pool!"

Izuku turned into a cheetah and wasted no time in zooming off in the direction of UA's swimming pool. He noticed 3 students running ahead of him, and while he was surely fast enough to outrun them, he noticed a camera drone flying directly above him. ' _All Might did say I should make my mark early and often…'_ He welled up with the familiar gleam of One For All that he had spent the past 2 weeks getting back into form and began darting forward in a blazing-fast zigzag pattern. ' _Time to show the results of my training!_ '

Izuku barreled down the road, bouncing off of trash cans, street lights, or whatever else would be solid enough for him to propel his feline body off of. The velocity and power in his motions caused a quick pile-up of debris in the middle of the path that caught his adversaries dead in their tracks. All they could see among the tipped over bins and light posts was a streak of green light trailing an emerald green cheetah running off ahead of them.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Heh, not bad Young Midoriya...Not bad at all…"

All Might watched on comfortably from his place in the teacher's lounge, taking in all of the action on a special UA Faculty stream of the Festival while he sipped a piping hot cup of tea. He had been in and around enough of these crowds in his time, so it was nice to be able to kick back and enjoy the show from the comfort of the best sofas UA could buy. His protege seemed to be off to a good start, so he decided to switch the camera stream and check in on how his other students were doing.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Eat my dust, ya bunch of nobodies!"

Katsuki found it hard to believe there were many people who had the level of mobility that he did with his quirk, and he would show everyone watching just how amazing he really was! As he blasted through the air using his explosions to propel him, he made sure to slam his palms downwards every few feet to create a smokescreen against the students he passed by. That damn first clue was a piece of cake and led him to UA's front gates. Upon arriving, he scowled to see Todoroki already there receiving a clue.

"Oi! Strawberry Shortcake! What'dya think you're doing getting ahead of me, huh?!"

Not even acknowledging him, Shoto opened his envelope and began reading his clue.

"Don't ignore me, you piece of garbage!" Katsuki snapped his head behind him to see a bunch of people running towards them, presumably to get this clue as well. "Fuck! This ain't over you two-toned bitch!" He shook his fist at Todoroki's back as he snatched the clue from the droid and tore it open.

 _So you think you're skilled, you think you're cool?_

 _You think you're the best of the best at this hero school?_

 _Well show us then, go all out!_

 _Your next clue's by a great big spout!_

Katsuki would never admit it to anyone, but these riddles were kind of enjoyable. "Hnn, good wordplay." He stuffed the clue into his pocket and exploded down the stone brick path, making a beeline for the fountain at the centre square of campus.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Aha! Found it!" Izuku skidded to a stop next to the robot and took the clue from it, palms resting on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. Midnight wasn't exaggerating when she said this hunt would lead everyone all over campus. He had already found 7 different clues! The end had to be near at this point. "Hmm, I wonder how everyone else is doing…" Izuku had crossed paths with many of his classmates in his hunt, greeting them with a smile and an unspoken agreement not to mess with each other and instead cooperate to impede the other classes. But as he opened his newest clue and read the contents, it seemed there wouldn't be any way to avoid clashing with his friends any longer.

 _You've done well to come this far, for sure!_

 _In terms of impressing the viewers, you've got your foot in the door!_

 _But there's one more thing that you must hunt,_

 _You'll win the event if you finish in front._

 _Head back to the spot where we started the game,_

 _It's the final stretch, it's fame or shame!_

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Things seemed like they were about to get _very_ interesting. Following the last clue in the scavenger hunt, Izuku made his way back to the starting area inside the arena, only to see the entirety of his class plus at least 20 others there as well.

"Well hey hey hey! Would you look at what the cat dragged in!" Mic shouted over the PA. "Looks like the hunt was fruitful! From my count, only 44 of you managed to make it all the way back here in time, YEAAAH!"

"So what now? Who wins?"

"Yeah! Tell us already!"

"Tsk tsk, you children really need to learn to be a little patient." Midnight jokingly scolded as she reappeared on the stage. "Now, all of you did great in making it this far, and you'll be happy to know that you 44 are moving on to the next round!" Waiting for the audience to stop cheering, Midnight twirled her whip between her slender fingers, "But you see...the scavenger hunt was merely part of the challenge to weed out the winners from the weenies! Your challenge isn't over yet…" Motioning towards a giant steel door on the far side of the arena, Midnight snapped her fingers, causing the doors to slowly slide open. "Down there, around that path, then back here is the real finish line. Now, you may be wondering...Oh youthful and heavenly Midnight-Sensei...If I'm already one of the 44 students who get to move on to the next challenge, what incentive do I have to win this final sprint? Well, there's two answers to that my lovelies! First, you already know that we here at UA do not settle. What's that school motto again?" She cupped her hand around her ear and pointed to the crowd.

" **PLUUUUS ULLLTRAAAAAAAA!** "

"That's right! So it wouldn't look too kindly on your budding reputations if you just took it easy, now would it? And the second answer is...Whoever comes in first in this final stretch of the first challenge will receive an incredible bonus prize that will give them a huge advantage in the next round! Not only that, but the higher you place, you'll also receive a smaller bonus for next round!"

Seeing the sudden fire being lit under the students caused Midnight to grin from ear to ear, "That's what I like to see! Let the flames of youth burn through you as your spirits climax at the finish line! Now, the same rules still apply: As long as you're within the boundaries, anything goes! Ready….GO!"

The first leg of this event seemed to have its intended effects. Now a little more accustomed to the big stage, all of the competitors immediately set off at Midnight's mark. Quickest on the draw was Todoroki, who took advantage of everyone being in the same place and froze the entire ground behind him as he leapt ahead.

The swift twinkling of ice forming along the ground was followed by the loud cracking as the other racers began to break free of their frosty bindings.

"You'll have to try harder than that, Todoroki!"

"We won't let you get away that easy, two-face!"

At the head of the pack behind Todoroki was Kirishima and Bakugo, who were then overtaken by Yaoyorozu, who had created a pole and vaulted herself over their heads.

"Damn it, ponytail! Get back here!"

Momo's second-place position was short-lived, however. Directly next to her, a green ostrich was picking up speed, squawking at her before pulling ahead.

"No! Midoriya-san! Come back!"

"Deku now too?! You fucks get back here and get behind me where you belong!"

Meanwhile, the crowd was _loving_ it. Close, scrappy competitions were the kinds of spectacles that people lived for. Especially the people who were big fans of heroics and the UA Sports Festival.

"That's the stuff folks! Keep on cheering on these kids and watch them goooo! Come on, Mr. Mummy-Man, are you ready to help me commentate or what?"

Up in the announcer's booth, Aizawa sat next to mic, still heavily bandaged and injured. He turned to his coworker sluggishly and shrugged, "Sure, since you dragged me up here and made me do this. Whatever."

"Hn, I figured some of my classmates would make it past that...But more people were able to get by than I thought…" Todoroki looked back and saw a few too many familiar faces for his liking.

"I ain't buying that crap, Todoroki!," Mineta shouted as he skipped across the balls that he had thrown down onto the ice, gaining on his classmates,"Now why don't you get a load of my super awesome killer move! Grape—Wahhhhhh!"

A giant robotic arm had suddenly swatted Mineta out of the air, sending the poor boy sailing backwards.

"It's the villain bots from the entrance exam!"

"Multiple threats detected. Objective set: Eliminate!" The large metal beasts had put themselves directly in the students' path, ready to strike.

"Here come the obstacles!" Mic announced, "And right from the get-go...The first barrier will be a Robo Inferno!"

True to his word, the massive robot rolled out, dwarfing the other robots and even the buildings in the surrounding area.

"Hey, that's one of the villain bots that was worth 0 points in the entrance exam! There's way too many to just slip past"

Todoroki gazed up at the gargantuan robot, letting out a cold breath, "So these are the villain bots that are used in these types of challenges in general, huh...The least you could have done is throw something stronger at me." He crouched down, pressing his right palm to the floor before sweeping it upwards, sending a tsunami of ice that completely encased the 0-pointer. "Since my shitty old man is watching."

"He opened up a hole for us! We can go through!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Todoroki warned over his shoulder as he ran, "I froze them in pretty awkward positions…"

As if on cue, all of the robots that had been frozen began tipping forward and crashed down onto the ground in a massive pile of machinery and ice.

"...So they're gonna crash down."

Present Mic leapt up out of his seat, mimicking the crowd's excitement, "Todoroki of Class A has barreled through the first obstacle, blocking the other competitors in one fell swoop. What a _cold_ move! Wait, what's this I see?!"

Immediately emerging from the chaos were Midoriya and Bakugo, both hitting the ground running.

"Oh no you don't!" Izuku surged with his two quirks, morphing into a crackling green cheetah and instantly beginning to close the gap that Todoroki had created. Not far behind him was his ash-blonde friend, propelling himself forward like a bottle rocket.

Back at the pile-up, the action seemed to stop as everyone waited for the dust to settle. Patches of rubble began to tremble suddenly, followed by a spiky head of red hair bursting upwards.

"Damn you Todoroki! You timed it to topple at just the right moment! What if it hadn't been me? Someone could have gotten crushed to death!" Kirishima deactivated his hardening and shook the flakes of metal out of his hair.

"Class-A really ain't nothing but a bunch of obnoxious brats!" Another head burst through the heaps of scrap, this time with the silver sheen of steel, "What if it hadn't been me? Someone could have gotten crushed to death!"

"Hey, you're that dude from Class-B! God, now they're just copy-pasting quirks! Even though it's already so generic!" Kirishima dashed forward in a fit of emotional turmoil, leaving a steady stream of manly tears in his wake.

Like many others, Kaminari stood on and watched the odd exchange, "Man, I'm jealous. Neither of them have to ever worry about getting crushed since they can just break through easily."

"Quit standing around, Kaminari! C'mon!" The blonde looked up to see most of his classmates making their way over the heaps of metal and back into the race. Sero shot his tape out and wrapped it around Kaminari's waist, pulling him up with him.

Another blonde student saw this and almost popped a blood vessel. "Those 1-A cretins are at it again! Come, my classmates! We can't let them take the spotlight once again!" Monoma tried to rally all of his classmates into a fighting spirit, but then noticed two people that weren't in his class or in 1-A as far as he knew.

"You there! We may not know each other but join me in my quest to squash that damned Class-A once and for all!"

"Screw you, hero class. Scram."

"Excuse me?" Monoma glared at the messy purple-haired teen, then to the smaller blonde girl next to him, who squeaked upon eye contact and hid behind her companion.

"Monoma, come on! We gotta catch up!" A large hand wrapped around his waist, pulling him up and away from Shinso and Futaba.

"You'll regret thiiiiiis!" He yelled as he disappeared over the metal mountain.

Shinso rubbed the back of his neck, sluggishly rolling his shoulders, "C'mon, Futaba. Let's get this over with. Hey!"

3 1-B students stopped in their tracks, causing Shinso to smirk. "I've gotten pretty used to using this quirk, after all."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Way to go, students!" Up in the stands, a now fully healed Thirteen cheered on their class along with Snipe and Ectoplasm. Watching their students plow through the villain bots with ease filled them with pride. "As expected, lots of 1-A students are at the head of the group!"

"It ain't that the kids from the other classes are yuppies or anything, but they have no time to spend standing still, dead in their tracks."

"Indeed, Snipe. They have had intimate contact with the real world out there and they've come to know what it's like to truly be scared for their lives. They made it through that ordeal in one piece. Now each of their experiences has become their source of encouragement. It's drowning out their hesitation."

Finally making it past the initial area, the students came upon obstacle 2.

"Here they come! We've officially made it to...THE FAAAAAAAAALL! Some of you may have breezed through the first barrier, but whaddya think of the second?! You fall, and you're out! Don't like that? Maybe you can crawl! YEAAAAAHHHH!"

"Fufufufu, now's my chance to shine!" An excited head of pink dreadlocks emerged from the group that had stopped before the massive gorge. She was covered in various mechanical accessories, none more noticeable than large round goggles connected to some sort of headpiece that resembled a pair of horns. "It's time for my support items to bask in glory! Lo and behold! 'The Wire Arrow and Hover Soles!' Ain't they gorgeous?!"

"Wha—Hey! How come you can have items in the race?!" Ochako and Mina both raised their eyebrows at the odd girl who wore a myriad of mechanical contraptions all over her body.

"You guys in the Hero Department get actual fight training on the regular right? To make things more fair, we're allowed to bring items and costumes that we've developed ourselves! They vetted all our gear and gave us the go-ahead! You know what that means? Do ya? Do ya? Hah!" A grappling hook attached to a long cable shot out of the contraption on her torso, attaching itself on the other side of the gorge. "This is the chance for us Support kids to show off the engineering we've birthed and developed to impress all the corporations watching! You hear that?! Hatsume Mei, inventor extraordinaire! I'm gonna be the greatest Support Engineer that this world has ever seen!" Hitting a button on her belt, the cable yanked Mei flying forward through the air, landing safely thanks to the activation of her hover soles just before touching the ground.

"WHOOOOOAAA! Look at that young lady go, folks! Now let's check in at the front of the race to see who is currently in the lead!"

The audience watched with stunned excitement as the JumboTron switched to see Todoroki still in the leading the pack.

"Holy hell, that kid is still in first! He's on a whole other level, huh? Did you see how fast he slid across those ropes over that canyon before?"

"Are you joking? What about when he froze that giant robot solid in one go? Not only is his quirk powerful, he has good judgment, and good base physical capabilities!"

"That kid's actually the son of The Flame Hero: Endeavour."

"Oh...I can see it now! He's got the blood of the #2 hero in his veins! Pros would be foaming at the mouth to get him at their agency! This isn't even a competition then if he's involved!"

Some of the crowd seemed to agree with him, but others weren't so convinced.

"Are you so sure about that? Look!"

The camera slowly panned up, revealing Izuku in his cheetah form a good distance behind Shoto, but he was closing the gap... _fast_.

"Whoa! Look at that cat go!"

The blazing speed that Izuku was reaching elicited a roar of excitement out of the crowd, all stunned to see someone catching up to Endeavour's child so quickly. Not only that, but Bakugo wasn't too far behind either, yelling and screaming over the loud explosions pushing him forward.

Todoroki glanced over his shoulder and kissed his teeth, "Midoriya." Hoping to freeze the ground behind him and hinder Midoriya's running abilities, his momentary pause was all the green feline needed to make up the distance between them.

Making one emphatic push off the ground, Izuku rocketed upwards, soaring over Shoto's head, landing once more and not taking a second to look back.

"Damn it, Deku!" Katsuki was not far behind, also overtaking Shoto and flipping him off as he flew by.

"AND THE LEAD HAS BEEN UPSET! Eat it up, fans! This is just the sort of surprise development that sparks joy in your hearts! Just in time, too! We've reached the hidden final barrier! The minefield!"

"The what?!" Present Mic's declaration startled Izuku so much, he accidentally turned human again mid-stride, tripping forward and sliding across the dirt face-first.

"Owww, damn it…" Peeling himself off the ground, Izuku coughed out a few handfuls of dirt, trying to regain his bearings.

"Deku!"

Just in time to receive an explosive pat on the back courtesy of his best friend.

The explosion sent him back onto his belly, where he felt a sudden chill run up his arms and legs. He lifted his head to see Todoroki running by him, not even sparing a word or glance.

"Haha, someone was surprised! Yes, this field is full of landmines! But they're not lethal! They go KABOOMY and maybe knock a screw or two loose, but you'll live!" Mic emphasized by knocking against his temple.

"Obviously, that depends on the person," Aizawa added.

"Get your mitts off me, you icy-hot bastard!"

"Oh, look at this, folks! The frontrunners have started tussling mid-race! Will their mutual meddling leave a window open for more racers to catch up? Or is the lead already too big and we will be declaring one of those two beastly boys as the winner? Witness the thrilling conclusion right after a word from our sponsors!"

"...Mic...We don't have any sponsors…"

"WHAT?! So then where did we get all the money for this stuff?!"

"Tax dollars?"

Mic and Aizawa shared a look for a moment. "Yeesh. Alright, well then we can go back to the ac—HOLY HAND GRENADE, WHAT'S THIS?!" Mic's sunglasses were halfway down his face as he directed everyone's attention to the enormous bird soaring over the minefield at a ridiculous pace.

"Hmm, it seems as though that is a Steller's Sea Eagle, one of the largest raptors in the world. Their wingspan can reach up to 8 feet long and they can fly for extended periods of time at up to 50 kilometres per hour." Aizawa shook his phone out at the astounded Present Mic.

"And what is that he's carrying?!"

On closer inspection, everyone could see that a large chunk of ice was in Eagle-zuku's talons.

Busy fighting with each other, neither Katsuki nor Shoto noticed Izuku's resurgence before there was a giant avian shadow passing over them.

They stopped in confusion only to see the ice chunk fall to the ground, followed by a massive explosion of pink powder that enveloped the two of them completely.

"What a maneuver by the bird-brain! In no time at all, Midoriya has left his opponents in the dust and cleared the landmine area! Damn, Eraserhead, what are you teaching these kids?!"

"I didn't do a thing. This is all the result of the fires each of them lit under each other."

Meanwhile, the crowd was going bonkers after seeing what Izuku had done to take the lead once more.

"That kid has a crazy versatile quirk! How many animals do you think he could turn into?"

"Did you see that big-brain play? He dropped that ice on that mine perfectly!"

"Well, eagles do have amazing vision. He must have seen a larger lump of mines at that exact location. Impressive."

"This kid's my pick! I got 10 000 ¥ on him to win the whole damn festival!"

"You're on! Mama needs a new belt!"

As fans across the stadium began clamouring to make wagers with each other, one trio of spectators kept a close eye on each and every competitor taking part in the race.

"Make sure to pay close attention, you two. Who knows what kind of crazy stunts these UA kids have up their sleeves." Emi was glad it was so easy to be at the UA Sports Festival and not raise any suspicion to ulterior motives. No one cared that she, a pro, was here. And no one would recognize her two students, so it was a win all around. Looking to her right, she saw Shindo staring at the event intently, taking in every detail he could. She expected as much from him. He was one of the most proud to be a Ketsubutsu student and took this task very seriously.

Her other student companion...Not so much.

Tatami was staring intently, there was no doubt about that. But the look she had in her eyes was not one of intense scrutiny. It was not one that conveyed any intentions of trying to find any holes or advantages that they could exploit when the time came for it.

No, it was a look that Emi knew very well. A look she herself had worn plenty of times in her life.

The blonde teen's eyes were deadlocked on the green-haired first-year who had just pulled off a resounding move and took a commanding lead in the race. Mouth slightly open, cheeks rosy, pupils twinkling like crown jewels...there was no doubt in the pro's mind that romance was in the air.

"Nakagami, see anything interesting?"

"Huh? Yeah…"

Emi shook her head amusedly at how uninterested and dismissive her reply was. Anything that would take even a second of attention away from that UA student was not even worth the brainpower to be heard by Tatami. Oh, this girl had it bad, alright.

"Nakagami, you really love wearing socks on your hands while you sleep, right?"

"Huh? Yeah, for sure…"

This back and forth got Shindo's attention, as he stared in confusion at his classmate and teacher, "Wait, what?"

"Ah, don't worry about it, Shindo. Just keep watching the festival." She patted his back and looked back to the action, which seemed like it was reaching its conclusion.

Rapid footsteps could be heard, faintly echoing throughout the long corridor leading into the arena. The crowd welled with excitement, letting off a booming cheer in sync with the pyrotechnics firing upwards all around the entryway.

"Midoriya Izuku! A name that will surely be one to know! The winner of the first event! Give him a big hand, folks!"

Izuku stopped in the middle of the arena, panting from his efforts as he looked all around him. His eyes gleamed with amazement at the sight before him. Thousands of people, both pros and civilians, cheering and shouting for him. He had _won_. He had actually won the first leg of the Sports Festival!

Welling with pride, Izuku wiped the sweat from his brow and threw up a victorious fist, fuelling the crowd even further. "Man, I could get used to this."

"Here come the rest of the competitors! Remember, every place counts!"

One by one, the rest of the racers began pouring out of the tunnel.

First, it was Todoroki and Bakugo, both completely covered from head to toe in bright pink dust.

"Damn it, Deku! You beat me again! And you better hope this shit washes out! And don't think you coming in second means anything, Frosty the Fuckhead!"

Todoroki said nothing, as usual, merely staring at Midoriya's back as his cold skin caused the air around his body to condense into a billowing mist.

"Ahh, Deku-kun…! You did so good! Man, but I'm so frustrated, too!" Uraraka wailed as she patted his back and punched him simultaneously.

"I agree! Well done, Midoriya-kun! But I cannot believe I lost in a speed test!"

More and more of Izuku's classmates came up to congratulate him, but one, in particular, caught his attention.

"Yaoyorozu-san? Why're you wearing that?"

Momo looked down at the black hoodie she was wearing instead of the UA gym uniform top, crossing her arms with an annoyed frown, "Well... _someone_ tried to stick to my back and rear from about the midway point of the race, so I had to free myself and as a result, I had to put on a new shirt." She shot a scowl over at Mineta, who was sporting a fat lip and a black eye.

The teen merely smiled and gave a thumb's up, "Worf it!"

Midnight clapping got their attention, "We'll compile the results in a sec', so for now just enjoy your breather, students!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"He...He did it…Oh my God..."

Frozen in astounded disbelief, Tatami could barely eke out those words as the JumboTron displayed the boy who had taken the race—and the crowd—by storm. At some point, gleeful, adrenaline-driven tears had dripped from her face, not going unnoticed by Ms. Joke beside her.

"That was one hell of an event, huh? Real exciting!" She gave Tatami a sly wink, causing the poor girl to come to, blushing up a storm and sinking her neck into her shirt collar. "Shindo! Mind being a gentleman and getting all 3 of us some snacks? My treat!" SHe dug into her pocket, thrusting a handful of bills into his hands

As Shindo happily obliged and walked away, Emi fully turned to Tatami. "So! That Midoriya kid sure is something, huh?" Leaning into her personal space, Emi barely held in a giggle fit watching her student squirm uncomfortably.

"Y-Yeah...He was pretty cool…"

Tatami's avoidance of eye contact and mumbling sealed her fate beyond any doubt.

"There's no use in trying to hide it, Nakagami! Spill the beans! Who is this boy? How do you know each other? What are you to each other? Talk! Talk! Talk!" In her excitement, she had unknowingly begun shaking the poor blonde vigorously.

"Alright! I'll talk! Just please stop shaking me!"

As embarrassing as it was to talk about it so candidly to her teacher (as cool as Joke-Sensei was, it was still kinda weird to her), Tatami wasn't left with much choice. Ms. Joke knowing about it wouldn't be _all_ that bad, either. She trusted that her teacher would keep it private, and she didn't see her having any actual hostility towards UA past what was expected from Ketsubutsu's higher-ups.

Tatami _was_ worried about Shindo, though. She still had no idea how to deal with all of that and him being here at UA where Izuku was made it even more complicated. But hopefully, that could be a problem for later.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"I hope you kids had a chance to catch your breath because it's time to announce the results!" Midnight hit a button on a remote and pointed to the JumboTron. "Drumroll, please!"

Everyone waited with bated breath as a small loading animation appeared on screen, filling up a progress bar at an agonizing pace.

*DING*

"And here we are!"

The crowd exploded into cheers as each of the contestants' profiles appeared on screen, with Midoriya, Todoroki, and Bakugo being highlighted as first through third place.

"Alright! Now it is time for the post-preliminary round! This next event will be the final deciding factor for the main event! It only gets more exciting from here, so give it your best! Today's heart-pounding second event! I already know what it is...But mmm~! I can't help but get excited! Behold!" She announced as she whipped her arm towards the giant screen.

 **HUMAN CAVALRY BATTLE**

"Human cavalry…!? Damn, my quirk is so not suited for that!"

"Same! And how do they even expect us to compete in a challenge like this? Are we gonna have to team up or something?"

"Exactly right!" Midnight smirked and threw her arms out, palms pointed to the sky, "You can form teams consisting of 2 to 4 people and form a horseback configuration. Normally, a Human Cavalry Battle's aim is to swipe enemy riders' headbands while protecting your own...But here at UA, we like to mix it up—Stay original, you know? So there's a twist!" Reaching into her pocket, Midnight pulled out what seemed to be a small, stretchy tube of rubber.

"Is that what I think it is?!" Mineta screamed excitedly, practically foaming at the mouth.

"Yes, it is!" Putting the open end over her mouth, Midnight exhaled deeply "These balloons will be your 'headbands'! So each team gets a balloon per team member! That's not all! Everyone will receive points based on their performance in the last trial—"

"Which means that the point value of each team will change based on who's on it!"

"HEY! Don't make my announcements for me! You know how long I rehearsed for this gig, you little brat! Ahem…" Midnight coughed into her hand awkwardly, "Anyway, a strip of paper with each of your scores will be inside your balloons, so you won't know which balloon is worth what number of points! And under no circumstances are you to look at these scores before I say you can...Pop a balloon, and your team is automatically disqualified! So you kiddies can't just be throwing haymakers all willy nilly—Some finesse will be needed as well. Not to mention luck! The number of points you're worth will be 5 points if you placed 44th, 10 if you placed 43rd, 15 for 42nd, so on and so forth…"

Midnight suddenly got a devilish grin on her face, eyes twinkling with mischief, "With the exception of 1st place! Remember when I said whoever came in first will get an amazing advantage? Well my definition of advantage may be a _teensy_ bit different than yours. Our boy of the hour, Midoriya-kun! Your balloon will be worth….TEN MILLION POINTS!"

In an instant, every other pair of eyes snapped towards Izuku, who stood petrified.

"If I were you," Midnight continued as Izuku maintained his thousand-yard stare, "I'd be aiming for the guy in first place the whole time! This is the chance for the low to supplant the high! Those who reach success surely face new harsh challenges, and every turn in life will be plentiful with vultures ready to swop in on those that are on top. Keep that in mind, kids. Because this game has one key theme: Survival of the fittest!"


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys. Been a while since we've updated here, huh? I have no real good excuse...But if you've been willing to stick by me and my story no matter how bad I am for new chapters in a timely manner, I appreciate you.**

 **The first chapter of my new story,** _ **Dauntless**_ **, went well. I'm excited to keep working on that while still chugging away at Beast Mode.**

 **Other than that, not much going on. I spent 600k on turnips in Animal Crossing so here's hoping I can make some money.**

 **I made a grilled cheese sandwich using garlic bread. That was cool. Quarantine life~**

 **Till next time!**

* * *

Izuku was beginning to know the feeling of the prey animals he'd seen and studied over the years of honing in his quirk. He could hardly fathom the number of eyes that threatened to pierce through his skin as Midnight announced that it was time to form teams for the upcoming Cavalry Battle.

10 Million Points.

He was worth _10 Million_ Points.

Was he supposed to take on all 43 other students by himself?! Who in their right mind would team up with him and put that giant gargantuan target on their back?!

"Deku-kun! Let's team up!"

Izuku almost burst into tears. Like a guardian angel sent down to answer his prayers, his plight was met in the form of a bubbly brunette who walked up to him with a kind smile.

"Uraraka-san!"

Much to his relief, it seemed that Ochako was not the only person that was willing to help in his time of need. Momo came up next to her and gave him a thumb's up, which he returned with a smile.

"You guys really want to be on the same team as me? Aren't you worried about my 10 million points?"

"Ah who cares about that, Deku-kun? I definitely would rather be teamed up with my friend than with someone else! Besides, it's not like you aren't super-duper strong! We'll make a good team!"

Izuku smiled, half expecting as much from the brunette. However, this line of reasoning didn't seem as logical coming from the other girl who wanted to be on his team.

"What about you, Yaoyorozu-san? Not that I don't want you on my team, of course!" He quickly waved his hands in front of him to ensure she didn't get the wrong idea, which she politely acknowledged, "But how come you wanna be on my team too?"

"Well, as Ochako-san said, it is surely more desirable to team up with someone familiar as opposed to trying to find synergy with strangers. Originally, Todoroki-san requested that I join his team, which would've been mostly tolerable if not for...He seems to be quite set on defeating you today, Midoriya-san. I suppose that shouldn't be entirely surprising with the words you two had exchanged in the waiting room before the Festival. Rivalry is one thing...But he seemed particularly cold, especially after you had come in first place in the last event. The dark look he had in his eyes, quite honestly...made me uncomfortable. With all of this in mind, I thought that us working together would be the best course of action for both of us. But mind you, this does not mean that I no longer see you as a rival that I wish to best. For now...you're safe." Momo gave Izuku a wink, which caused him the chuckle.

"Haha, I wouldn't have it any other way, Yaoyorozu-san. Welcome to the team! Now...I have an idea about a 4th member of our team...If you'll hear me out, that is."

This piqued the interest of the two girls. As they had come to witness, Midoriya Izuku never failed to come up with interesting ways to approach a task.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

It took all of Katsuki's willpower not to lose his cool and blow up every single one of the people clamouring around him wanting to be on his team for the Cavalry Battle.

As much as it annoyed the hell out of him, he was forced to put a team together because of the event's stupid rules.

"Bakugo! Let's team up!"

Katsuki turned to see Kirishima coming up to him with an excited expression on his face.

"So whaddya say? Wanna be a rider? With my hardening, I can handle the backlash from all of your explosions, right? We'll be a horse that can't crumble and definitely win! We gotta get Midoriya's ten million, no?"

Eijiro smiled as his enticement worked perfectly. As Katsuki grinned darkly, Mina and Sero walked up to them.

"Wouldn't you _want_ to team up with Midoriya, Bakugo?" Hanta questioned.

Mina nodded in agreement, "Yeah! Aren't you and Midori like besties? Why do you wanna take his points so bad?"

"I wouldn't expect you to understand, raccoon-eyes," Katsuki said with a scoff, "Why the hell would I wanna team up with Deku when he's been kicking the shit out of everyone all damn day?! I'm gonna whoop his ass and show him that I'm better than him. He and that bi-coloured bitch are at the top of the hit list."

"THAT'S SO MANLY!" yelled Kirishima.

Looking between Mina and Hanta, Katsuki rolled his eyes, "If you three hold me down and keep me from winning, I'm gonna murder you. Now shut up and listen to everything I say."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Todoroki calmly stared at his three teammates who were waiting expectantly for his instructions.

"This team isn't exactly ideal…I was hoping that Yaoyorozu would accept my offer but she left to join Midoriya. I suppose we will have to make do. Iida." He turned to the blue-haired teen, "You're gonna be at the front of our unit with your engine power. You're also gonna provide most of the defence against physical attacks."

"Kaminari. You're gonna be on the left. Send out sparks to make sure no one can get close enough to us to grab any of our balloons."

"But what about you guys? I can't exactly _control_ who gets hit by my quirk and who doesn't, you know…" Denki trailed off, rubbing his head.

"That's where I come in, Sparky!"

Everyone turned to the fourth member of the team, deadpanning at her as she began pulling contraption after contraption out of her seemingly endless pockets.

"W-Who is this again?" Iida asked.

"Hatsume Mei, at your service!" The girl with pink dreadlocks greeted, "Future greatest Support Hero that the world has ever seen! Nice to meet ya!"

"She wanted to be on Midoriya's team, but came to us after his team filled up."

Mei nodded enthusiastically, "I figured being on Mr. Ten-Million's team would give me the best exposure for my babies! But hot-stuff over here ain't half bad for publicity either!"

Deciding to ignore that blatant disregard for himself and Kaminari being a part of the team as well, Iida pushed up his glasses, "So how is it that you plan on helping Kaminari-kun control his electricity?"

Mei playfully waved her hand, "Oh please, that's easy!"

Reaching into a pouch on her belt, she tossed Denki a small metal cylinder, which expanded into a 4-foot rod once he caught it in his hands. "That rod is made of silver! Most conductive element there is! Hold that on your outside hand and wear this on your hand carrying our rider!" She threw a glove at him, which he caught with his free hand.

"Rubber?" Kaminari dangled the glove in front of his face, "Are you sure just a rubber glove is good enough of an insulator?"

Mei scoffed at him derisively, "What do you take me for? Some kind of hack? That rubber glove is coated in PVC and Teflon! Your sparky sparks won't shock us with that on!"

Visibly impressed, Tenya turned to Shoto with a small smile, "Well I suppose Hatsume-kun will be a good addition to our team after all! Despite her...erm...unique energy...She seems to be well prepared. So, Todoroki-kun...As our rider, you'll have no issues warding off our opposition using either ice or flames, correct?"

Shoto slowly turned his head, gazing off into a far section of the crowd and narrowing his eyes. "Wrong...As far as I'm concerned, I only have one quirk. In combat, I'll never use my left side..."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

In his short time at UA, Tokoyami Fumikage had come to accept the fact that unexpected things would happen frequently. Being quite the unique individual himself, what with his quirk and appearance, it was not hard to understand that surprises would be plentiful. But him being a sudden addition to Midoriya's team for the Cavalry Battle definitely caught him off guard.

"So, just to go over it once again. Uraraka-san, you and I will be on the sides watching for any flanks. Tokoyami-kun, we need you in the front because you and Dark Shadow are perfect for handling any oncoming attackers. Plus with your range of motion, you pretty much have full reign of the entire front 180 degrees of our unit."

Fumikage nodded in understanding, "That makes sense. I will be sure to perform up to the standard expected of me."

That left one member of the team, "Are you certain you want me as the rider, Midoriya-san? Wouldn't you rather be the one up here?" It came as quite the surprise to Momo that Izuku had suggested she be the one on top. She assumed that the greenette would want to be the one in this position of paramount importance, wearing the balloons containing their points and essentially commanding their unit from the top. Midoriya was adamant, though, that she should be the one with this role.

"Trust me, Yaoyorozu-san. You're the right person for this job. With what I have planned, only you could be the one at the top of this unit. We all believe in you, so believe in yourself, huh?"

Ochako and Fumikage both nodded in agreement, bringing confidence to the dark-haired girl. "W-Well...if you're certain...I'll do my best!"

"That's what I like to hear! Now, does anyone else need me to go over the plan again? No questions, comments or concerns will go unheard."

"Time is up!" Midnight's call interrupted their huddle as she clapped her hands together, "Now, all of you have had plenty of time to put your team together and discuss strategy. It's showtime now! Before we begin, let's go over the rules one last time! You all have balloons in your possession each containing a slip of paper corresponding to a score of one of your team members from the last event! This means that you won't know how much each balloon is worth when trying to take it from the other team. Pop a balloon, or have your rider touch the ground and your entire team is disqualified! The event will stop at the end of the time limit or when half of the teams have been eliminated! Questions?" Midnight blatantly ignored the multiple hands that had shot up, "Good! START!"

As soon as Midnight had called the commencement of the event, it was like a deer had been tossed into a pit full of hungry alligators. Essentially every team had set off towards Izuku's team right away, hoping to get their hands on the 10 Million Point balloon.

The predators grew closer and closer, but oddly, the trio carrying Momo atop their shoulders did not move an inch.

Beginning to sweat nervously, the rider looked down to her de facto leader, only for him to hold his hand up.

"Wait for just a second longer…" Izuku smiled as he saw Katsuki's team running straight at them, the rest of the teams close behind.

"Gimme those points, Deku!" The ash-blonde yelled.

"Now!"

All four members of the team quickly put on pairs of sunglasses and earmuffs as the exposed skin of Momo's forearms began to glow. She swung both of her arms outward, sending dozens of Russian dolls skittering across the ground.

Looks of confusion from the other competitors turned to looks of agony as each doll cracked in half, revealing the flashbang grenades within them, enveloping the entire arena in a blinding sea of bright light.

"Would you look at that! Well, I guess you can't!" Present Mic yelled with a laugh. "The team with the target on its back makes its _flashy_ first move! How will they take advantage of their opponents' lack of vision? Eraser?"

He turned to his partner and immediately deadpanned as he saw the scruffy man rubbing his eyes with a strained frown on his face. "Oh, right...I forgot I wear sunglasses…Now, what's this?!"

High above the other teams was a large green vulture carrying Ochako, Fumikage and Momo. The bird landed and transformed back into Izuku as the other 3 team members floated down safely.

"Nice work, Uraraka-san!"

The brunette smiled despite the slight nausea she was experiencing from use of her quirk, "You got it!"

Izuku gave her a thumb's up. "We just gotta keep our distance until time runs out and we are gonna win! What the—?!"

The ground below them suddenly began to soften, causing their legs to sink downwards.

"Crap! We're stuck! It must be that kid's quirk!" Ochako yelled, trying to yank her foot out of the sludgy terrain.

A few feet away from them, a cavalry unit headed by a pale-skinned boy with teeth sitting on the outside of his skin shook his fist at them. "This kid has a name! It's Honenuki Juzo!"

"Let's get those 1-A balloons!" Tetsutetsu proclaimed from atop his place on the cavalry, but before his team could charge, Momo launched her team out of the quagmire and over their heads.

"A vaulting pole! Damn that girl and her quirk!"

As the quartet soared through the air, a pair of earphone jacks shot up after them. Jiro's sneak attack was almost successful, but right before her jacks were able to wrap around the string connecting one of the balloons to Momo's torso, a dark limb swatted them away.

"Good work, Dark Shadow. Keep watching over our blind spot."

" _ **Aye aye!**_ " The shadowy apparition saluted.

"Yaoyorozu-san! Throw down a pad so we can land!"

The girl complied, pulling open her top as a small clump of fabric shot out of the glowing portion of her collarbone. It landed on the ground and puffed out into a large pillow that her team safely landed on before continuing their run away from the teams chasing them.

"Darn! We were so close to getting one of their balloons! Good try, Kyouka-chan! Let's go after them and get Momo-chan's balloons for sure!" Hagakure said from atop her cavalry.

"Wait a second! Oh my god, Hagakure! Look!"

Toru gasped in surprise, "My balloons! They're gone! Where'd they go?!"

"It's like taking candy from a baby!" A smug voice taunted from behind them. Toru's team turned to see Monoma atop his team of 1-B boys, holding all 3 balloons that were previously tied to Toru's wrist. "You 1-A turds keep fighting amongst each other while we superior 1-B students advance, 'kay?"

"What a devious play by Hero Class 1-B's Monoma Neito!" Mic's voice boomed over the stadium speakers. "The event has barely just begun and we already have a brawl on our hands! I dare say it has even escalated to an all-out kerfuffle! Anywhere you look, there's teams going after each other's balloons!"

"It makes sense after all," Aizawa added, "Aiming for 2nd to 4th place balloons as opposed to only going for the 10 million gives you more opportunity to secure points as well as less risk and competition to get it."

"Mwahaha! 'Going after each other's balloons?' Don't make me laugh!" A short-sounding voice called out, "You think this is some kinda balloon trading circle? No, I assure you it will be a one-sided ransacking!"

"Over there!" Momo saw Shoji headed right for them, his large webbed arms curled on top of his back like some sort of turtle-shell. "Shoji-san?! But why are you all alone? Surely the rules that we must form teams of two to four people apply to you as well?"

"Never mind that! We need to put some distance between us! We're surrounded by enemies, it's asking for trouble if we stay still!" Tokoyami turned heel and hoped to lead his team to a safer distance, but found that his foot was stuck to the ground by...a purple ball!

"Gotcha, Midoriya…!" Mineta said ominously as his head peeked out of Shouji's 'shell'. "The time has come for a shift in the class dynamic! The mighty will fall!"

In Minoru's manic excitement, he began waving his arms around, causing Shouji to lose balance.

"Calm down, Mineta-chan." Tsuyu warned the small teen.

"M-Mineta! Stop moving so much!" Shoji stumbled forward a couple of steps before tripping over a green vine that had mysteriously appeared in front of him. "Whoa!" He tumbled forward, ejecting Mineta onto the ground.

"The team of Mineta, Shoji, and Asui have been eliminated!"

"I deeply apologize, my multi-armed friend. The Lord shall continue to give me strength to move forward in today's festivities." Shiozaki Ibara calmly stated as she and her team ran by, Tetsutetsu having just tied Shoji's team's balloons around his waist.

The crowd erupted into cheers as Mic slammed his fist onto the intercom, "Holy guacamole! The first team has been eliminated from the Cavalry Battle! Who will be the next team to fall?"

Just managing to escape from Mineta's sticky balls, Team Yaoyorozu had little time to rest as the onslaught from other teams continued.

"Ponytail! Gimme those fucking balloons!" Katsuki was soaring directly towards them from behind, arm cocked back to strike.

"Tokoyami!"

Just as Dark Shadow was about to get in between them and the ash-blonde attacker, Momo stopped him.

"Wait! There's no way Bakugo-san's explosions won't pop the balloons from this close! He'll be eliminated if he pops even one!" The girl turned around on the cavalry and used her arms to pull down the 4 floating balloons in front of her like a shield.

"Oh fuck!" Katsuki's eyes widened as he tried to halt his forward momentum. Luckily, before he could hit the ground and be eliminated, a strip of tape wrapped itself around his arm and pulled him back to his team.

"Bakugo! You gotta stay with us! You almost got us eliminated!"

"Shut up, Kirby! I almost got Deku's damn balloon but that motherfucking Ponytail almost fucked me over!"

"Oh, believe me, your fellow 1-A scum are the least of your problems."

Katsuki knew that annoying voice. He whipped his head around and scowled at Monoma, who now had 12 balloons in his possession.

Noticing that 4 of those balloons were once in _his possession_ , Katsuki roared in anger. "What the fuck, your fucking assrag piece of shit motherfucking fuck! Gimme those fucking balloons back! I'll murder your family!"

"Another power play by Class B!" Mic hit a button on his console that switched the display on the JumboTron from profile cams of the competitors to show the current number of balloons possessed by each team and which team they came from. Next to each team's name was the range of points that they could potentially have with the balloons they had at the moment. "Wait just one gosh darn second…! Contrary to what everyone expected...Class A _aren't_ taking control of the top spots on the scoreboard! Well, besides Midoriya...And Bakugo's team is down to 0 points! What a fall from grace, yeaaaaahhhh!"

Monoma pretentiously flipped his bangs and smirked at Katsuki, "You 1-A peons are so obsessed with basking in every shred of glory that presents itself to you that you fail to act as a real winner would! Think about it! After the first leg of the race we just completed, Midnight announced that over 40 people would advance! Obviously that's far too many for a final event, so there would be at least one more event in between! That whole last event was merely a golden opportunity to observe the quirks and behaviour of our rivals from a safe distance! Anybody with a functioning brain would have let other people get first place so they could be exploited later!"

"Uhhh, Bakugo? The entirety of 1-B is surrounding us…"

"Sorry, Bakugo…" Itsuka actually looked a bit remorseful, but she couldn't betray her entire class and _not_ help them.

"Well, it's not as though everyone in our class was in full agreement," Monoma continued, "But it was still a pretty good plan, wouldn't you say? Instead of...Scrambling for some ridiculous, meaningless point summit like dangling carrots over horses. Ah! Come to think of it, you're already pretty famous, no? Oh, that's right! You're the victim of that sludge incident last year, right? I'd love to hear about that sometime! It must be depressing to get attacked by villains once a year!"

As Monoma laughed at his own words, a dark aura formed around Katsuki.

His eyes red with rage, he clenched his fists and breathed out slowly. "Kirishima….Change of plans. Before we get to Deku and take his points... **Let's send these motherfucking shitstains home in bodybags!** "

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

' _So Class B was playing the long game all along...They threw the preliminaries on purpose so that they could observe and analyze the rest of us! Man, I bet Kendo was not happy about that plan...But! Their goals seem to mostly be focused on turning the tables on Class A...So they're not specifically targeting us…'_

"Guys!" Izuku was confused at how startled his team suddenly teamed. "What's wrong?"

"You were muttering under your breath this entire time, and all of us were trying to get your attention, Midoriya."

"Yeah, yeah! You were super out of it, Deku-kun!"

"Huh? Whatever, it doesn't matter. You've all done a great job so far, and there's no way we could have made it this far without everyone's help. Now...I think evasion should be pretty easy for now, and there's only a couple of minutes left in the event…"

"Um...Midoriya-san? I don't know about that…" Momo pointed forward and Izuku followed her gesture with his eyes, causing him to sigh.

"Guess it won't be such an easy ride to the finish line, after all. Todoroki-kun."

The two boys locked eyes and stared each other down a few moments.

"The time has come. You've run for long enough. I'm taking your points, Midoriya."

"You do realize that we're all still here, right?" Momo said with a sweatdrop. The other ignored team members on both sides nodded in agreement, but were all ignored by the two rivals. "I'm the one who's the rider…" She mumbled with a pout.

The Wild West-esque showdown between the two teams caught the immediate attention of several teams around them, who saw a window to steal both of their points.

"There's little time left, so we can't afford to be distracted from our ultimate goal. Sorry in advance. Kaminari!"

"Right!" The blonde teen took the rod that Mei had given him and impaled it into the ground. "Take this!" He sent out his electricity into the rod, causing it to spread across the ground and into the bodies of the other teams.

Shoto then stuck his arm out to the side and summoned a rod of ice and slammed it into the ground. Waves of ice shot out of the ground and enveloped the legs of the teams nearby, locking them in place. "I'll be taking those." He swiftly grabbed their balloons and his team headed back towards his original target.

"Whoa, nelly! Todoroki held back the mobs of horses in one fell swoop! He really wants to take on Team Yaoyorozu head-on!"

"What should we do now, Deku-kun? Should we try to run?"

Izuku shook his head, "No. This was bound to happen eventually. We have no choice but to fight. I believe in you guys! We can get through this together! What do you guys say?"

The other three shared a look before giving him a thumb's up. "We trust you Midoriya-san. Let's win this!"

"Yaoyorozu-san…" Izuku smiled widely. "Well good, then! Because here they come!"

True to his words, Todoroki's team was headed right for them. Tokoyami summoned Dark Shadow to keep them at bay, but his ethereal limb was knocked aside by a powerful kick from Iida.

"Man, Iida-kun has some tough defence!"

Just then, Mei pulled a device from her pouch, shooting a cable out with a metal claw on the end of it. It wrapped around Momo's wrist and began pulling at her, almost yanking her right off of her seat, "Gotcha!"

"Yaoyorozu-san!"

Thinking quickly, Momo reached behind her and pulled her own weapon out of the nape of her neck. She aimed her gun at the pink-haired girl and pulled the trigger, sending a boxing glove forward and walloping her right in the face.

The cartoon weapon was effective, causing Mei to drop her device and allowing Momo to free herself from the cable.

"Damn! Iida, advance!"

"Hai, Todoroki-kun!"

Izuku helped Momo get back into a balanced position on top of him and his teammates, "Brace yourselves, guys. We're gonna have one hell of a fight on our hands."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

On the other end of the arena, Katsuki found himself and his team in a fierce battle of their own.

He and Monoma had reached somewhat of a stalemate thanks to the 1-B student's ability to copy other people's quirks. It was really starting to piss Katsuki off that he couldn't just kick the shit out of the douchebag before him and go fuck up Deku. That damn icy-hot bastard was hogging all the fun!

To make matters worse, other 1-B extras decided to butt in and attack him as well!

"Ah, Bondo! You've come to fight as well?"

After locking Kirishima in place with his glue, the large teen stopped expelling his quirk and turned to his classmate. "Monoma! We don't need to fight anymore! With the score the way that it is, we'll be able to place in the top four!"

"Oh, is that so?" Monoma turned to a seething Katsuki, "Oh, come on now. Don't get mad. Don't you remember? You're the one who fanned the flames. What was it that you said during your speech to kick off the festival? 'I'm gonna win this whole damn tournament' was what I believe you said. Well, hindsight is 20/20. Toodles!"

"You shitmunching assrag...I'll be the number 1 and it won't be just any first-place finish...I'm gonna be the best and finish first by ANNIHILATING EVERYONE! Go!"

Monoma was not prepared for Katsuki to come flying at him with such speed and ferocity, but fortunately, an invisible wall formed to stop the onslaught. "Nice save, Tsuburaba!"

"Haha! Ran smack dab into my solid air! Serves you right!"

"This ain't shit!" Katsuki reared back and smashed through the panel of solid air as if it were paper, grabbing hold of and stealing two of Monoma's balloons.

"We told you to warn us when you jump off, damn it!" Sero yelled as he pulled Bakugo back onto the cavalry. "At least now we have some points."

"It's not over yet! Not 'till we get all of their balloons and crush them like the ants that they are! Soy sauce face! Tape to their left!"

"Nice aim, 1-A scum! You missed!"

"Black eyes! Cut off their way forward with your acid shit!"

Though upset at not being called by her name, Mina complied and sprayed her acid, causing Monoma's team to skid to a stop.

Sero's tape was used to sling Katsuki and his team forward, directly at a now helpless Monoma.

"Now gimme those damn balloons, you extra!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"What an incredible second event it has been so far!" Present Mic relished in the cheers from the crowd, egging him as an announcer. "There's only about a minute left! There's action all over the place and these two teams are the cream of the crop! Todoroki has set the field!" Shoto had created a small arena using his ice to wall the two teams in. "All that's left now is the battle for the 10 million point balloon! Despite the circumstances, Team Yaoyorozu has done very well to keep away during all this time! It is a true battle between juggernauts!"

Being repelled once more, Shoto breathed out an icy mist, his entire right side stinging from using his quirk so much. 'Damn, Midoriya...He figured me out. He keeps leading Yaoyorozu to my left so if I use my ice, Iida will get caught up in it.'

"Everyone." Tenya's three teammates looked to him, "We have less than a minute left. I have an idea as to how we can obtain those point balloons. It's a risky play, however, as I'll be useless after it. So I'm counting on you. Hang on tight." Tenya bent his legs slightly, bright blue flames beginning to emit from his engine exhaust pipes. "Take it, Todoroki! Torque overdrive! RECIPRO BURST!"

In an instant, Tenya had rocketed his team forward. His special move had propelled them so fast that Momo had no time to react to Todoroki reaching out for her balloons.

Skidding to a halt a distance behind Momo's cavalry, Iida's engines sputtered and spit as clouds of black smoke shot out of his calves.

"Iida! What was that just now..?" Shoto asked, still stunned at what had just transpired.

"In dire circumstances, I can force my torque to rev up to explosive proportions," Tenya said through heavy breaths, "However, in return my engine stalls for a while immediately afterwards. That was my ace in the hole that I never revealed to anyone until now. I thought I told you, Midoriya. I'm challenging you, myself!"

"I'm still here!" Momo whined. "And you didn't even fully succeed! Look!"

Tenya's eyes widened in surprise along with his other teammates as he saw that Shoto had only managed to grab one of Momo's balloons.

"B-But, how! I ran right by you! There's no way that Todoroki-kun couldn't have reached all of your balloons! Ow!" Tenya grabbed his side in pain, confused as to why it was hurting. "What the?" He looked up and his stomach dropped as Izuku held up a piece of blue cloth that was ripped off of his uniform! "Midoriya-kun! How did you?"

Izuku dropped the piece of fabric and shook his stinging hand, "Just as you were running by, I stuck my hand out and pushed you off course. You must have been going too fast to notice in the moment."

"Damn it! Bested again!"

"Wait, Iida. We only have one balloon that none of us know is worth how many points. For all we know, this could be the 10 million point balloon...But for all we know, it could just as easily be Yaoyorozu's 135 points. Thankfully I grabbed those other balloons before this, so we're safe no matter what."

Ochako looked at the scoreboard and paled, "If that's the 10 million point balloon, then _we're_ out of the top 4!"

Izuku looked and saw that there was only 30 seconds left. "So I guess there's no choice left.."

"They only have time for one last play," Shoto finished. He looked down at the distraught Iida and sighed. ' _Iida can't move, so all we can do is hold our ground and hope we can fend them off._ '

"You guys trust me, right?" Izuku's posed question was met with immediate agreement, making him shine with determination. "Good. Cause it's all or nothing now! Let's go!"

The team charged forward as Todoroki's team braced for impact. "Guys, now!"

At his command, Ochako activated her quirk on Momo, making her weightless once more. Fumikage summoned Dark Shadow, who grabbed Momo and flung her at Shoto. The girl created a large sheet and threw it forward, blocking the heterochromatic teen's vision.

Shoto swiped the sheet away and was stunned to see Momo back in her place on the cavalry, but someone _else_ was missing!

"It was a fake!"

His instincts screaming in his head, he whipped around to see Izuku hovering by his left side, glowing green arm reaching out and about to reach the balloon he had taken from them.

"Shit!" Before he could think about it, Shoto swung his left arm outward, summoning a stream of flame and knocking Izuku's arm away. ' _My left side...What the hell am I doing?!'_

Taking advantage of Shoto's petrified state, Izuku reached out once more and grabbed hold of the balloon. "I got it!" He quickly transformed into a dove, flying back to his team and returning to his human state.

*BEEEEEEEEEEEEP*

"Alright! Time is up!" Midnight called as she jumped down into the arena. The Cavalry Battle event is now...OVER!"

The audience roared with applause and cheers. The battle was tense and action-packed to the finish and now it was even more exciting to see what the final scores would be!

"No! Damn it! Shit! Fuck! Balls! FUUUCCCCK!" Katsuki cursed as he slammed his fists into the dirt. "Damn it, Deku! You fuck! Fuck you, icy-hot! You dickwad! FUCK!"

"O...kay…." Trying to ignore the tantruming teen, Midnight scratched her cheek awkwardly before getting back into her MC mode. "Alright! Now, every team with balloons step forward and I will tally up your score."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Alright! your score has been added up!" Dismissing the student back in line, Midnight tossed the pieces of paper and deflated balloons over her shoulder. "With only two teams left to tally up scores for, let's look at the board to see who is currently in the top 4!"

Team Bakugo was currently in first place with 855 points. While most would be happy about securing a spot in the top 4, Katsuki was seething because he knew that either Shoto or Izuku had the 10 million point balloon and was guaranteed first place.

Behind his team was, surprisingly, Team Shinso with 770 points. After that was Team Kendo with 615 points and Team Tetsutetsu with 585 points.

"Todoroki-kun, please step forward and we shall tally your score!" The teen complied and handed his balloons to Midnight. "Alright let's see here…"

205.

120.

170.

175.

150.

90.

115.

55.

Midnight mumbled the numbers under her breath as she entered them into the calculator on her phone. What? She wasn't a math teacher.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new first place! Now in the lead is Team Todoroki with a score of 1080 points! Buuuuuuuuuuut~! For those of you who have been paying attention...The 10 million point balloon has not been tallied yet...Meaning…" A spotlight shined down on Izuku and his team, who had realized as soon as Midnight read Todoroki's last score and had ear-to-ear smiles on their faces.

"Team Yaoyorozu has won the second leg of the Sports Festival! Give it up for your Cavalry Battle Champions!"

"We did it!" Momo and Ochako leapt for joy in each other's arms. Izuku let out a chuckle of relief, clutching his beating chest.

Fumikage put a hand on his shoulder, and the two shared a smile.

"Just let me quickly add up their score and we can see the final results!" Midnight had to scream into her microphone to be heard over the deafening cheers from all around the stadium.

 **First Place: Team Yaoyorozu - 10 000 325 points**

 **Second Place:** **Team Todoroki - 1080 points**

 **Third Place:** **Team Bakugo - 855 points**

 **Fourth Place: Team Shinso - 770 points**

"These four teams will move on to the final event! After lunch, that is! The 3rd and final leg of the Sports Festival will begin in one hour! Make sure to eat up so you'll have tons of energy for the exciting conclusion to the festival!"

As other students began discussing the battle amongst themselves, Shoto stood alone, staring at his left hand silently.

"I promised myself that I would never use this side to attack. But when Midoriya drove me into a corner...It just happened. I can't let things go on like this...It's going exactly how that shitty old man said it would…"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Man, that was so intense!" Ochako sunk into her seat in the designated break room with a heavy sigh. "My heart was beating so fast!" She planted her cheek on the table and looked up at Iida, who had just walked in. "Iida-kun! That super-duper speed was sneaky!"

Tenya waved his arm in disagreement, "It was most certainly not 'sneaky'! It was simply not in the manual, that's all! I just wanted to be a worthy rival to Midoriya-kun. Your team was quite the force to be reckoned with, as well. Good work!"

"You give us too much credit, Iida-san," Momo interjected as she sat down, placing her tray packed full of hamburgers down in front of her with a thud.

"Momo-chan...? You're gonna eat all of that yourself?"

Momo looked down at her platter that Mina was gawking at and raised a delicate eyebrow, "Yes? I used my quirk quite a bit in that last event and I need to refuel for the finals." Momo took a bite of her first burger, oblivious to Mina crying in the corner about something related to unfair metabolisms. "As I was saying...Midoriya-san was the real reason we won. He led us with confidence and trust in us, not to mention his own abilities."

"Wow~! That sure is some heavy praise for Midoriya, Momo-chan! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you might be infatuated with our resident beast boy!" Toru teased, causing Momo to roll her eyes.

"I am simply speaking the truth, Toru-san. I see Midoriya as a capable classmate, a friend, and a rival I want to prove my strength to. I do not believe that exactly qualifies as infatuation in the sense that you are referring to it in."

Ochako raised her head off of the table and looked around the room, "Where is Deku-kun, anyway?"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"So...What is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Izuku stood across from Shoto in one of the corridors leading into the stadium, the former confused and slightly uncomfortable, the latter with a dark stare and hands dug into his pockets.

"You blindsided me back there. So much so that I broke a promise that I had made to myself a long time ago. No one else noticed it. Not one person on either of our teams ever felt it at that moment. Only I did. That power of yours...I've never seen or felt anything like it, except for one other person. Not your transformations...No...I felt some sort of latent power radiating off of you...Whatever it is...It reminds me a lot of All Might…"

Izuku gulped. He began sweating nervously as his heart rate skyrocketed. Did Todoroki figure it out?

"You and All Might are connected in some way...And I think I know what that connection is…"

It took all of Izuku's mental strength to not begin externally panicking. He already had a close call with Katsuki. Could he get out of this mess like he did then?

"Are you All Might's secret love child or something?"

"..."

"..."

"Eh?"

 _That's_ the conclusion he came to?

Izuku sighed as the weight was lifted off of his shoulders. He almost cracked under the pressure. Wiping his forehead of sweat, Izuku let out a small chuckle.

"No, I'm not All Might's secret love child. Well, of course, that's exactly what a secret son _would_ say, so you may not believe me, but that's definitely not it. Actually, I wanna ask you something… Why are you—-"

"The way you said that. 'That's definitely not it.' So in other words, there _is_ some sort of connection that you can't talk about." Izuku slapped his hand over his mouth at his blunder. Shoto sighed, staring at the floor for a few moments. "Whatever that may be…" He raised his head and locked eyes with Izuku, "I'm sure you already know about my old man. Endeavour."

He lowered his hand from his mouth slowly, nodding and prompting Shoto to continue.

"He's been sitting in the second-place spot for a long time, now. No matter what he did, he could never get past All Might and become the World's Best Hero. If you have some kind of connection to All Might — to the number 1 hero — then that gives me all the more reason to beat you and win."

"Todoroki-kun…"

"My old man will stop at nothing to advance his position. He made a name for himself during his career by going all out from the get-go, but it was never enough to surpass a living legend like All Might. He knew that he could never beat out All Might on his own two legs, so he developed a plan.

"W-What are you talking about, Todoroki-kun...What exactly are you trying to tell me?"

Shoto sighed, scratching the back of his head, "Have you ever heard of the term 'quirk marriage', Midoriya?"

Unfortunately, Izuku had heard that term. It was a really immoral practice. Choosing partners solely to enhance one's own quirk to be inherited by their children and arranging marriages for that reason...It was inhumane in principle and barbaric in practice. "Wait...You're not saying…"

"That's right. As a famous and coveted hero, he easily integrated himself into my mother's family. It wasn't hard for him to convince my mother's parents to give her away and he took possession of her quirk soon after. All he ever wanted was to satisfy his own hunger and raise a hero that was capable of surpassing All Might." The air around them suddenly dropped in temperature. "Fuck him...I'll never let myself become that piece of shit's tool! In my memories from childhood...my mother is always crying...She told me that my left side is evil and ugly...and dumped boiling water on me."

"So that's what your scar is from…" Izuku mumbled, heart sinking.

"The reason I want to beat you is personal. I'm going to prove to that shitty old man that I can become the best without his quirk. This is my total disavowal of him."

' _It's like he's from a totally different world than me. We have the same goal...to be the best...but our circumstances are just...completely different…'_

"If you aren't gonna tell me anything, then that's your choice. Just know that I'll surpass you only using my Mother's quirk. See you."

Shoto began walking away, leaving Izuku standing alone in the corridor.

Izuku clenched his teeth and slammed his fist against the wall, pushing off and catching up to his roommate. He grabbed him by the arm and turned him around.

"I won't pretend that you haven't experienced a lot of hardships to get to where you are today. But we all have our reasons to keep pushing forward. I grew up idolizing All Might. I want to be just like him. I want to be the strongest hero who can always save the day and bring smiles to people. I may not have the past that you do, but I am not just gonna roll over and submit. I can't lose. Not just for myself, but for everyone who has and will continue to help me along the way. So I'll accept your declaration of war and give you the exact same. I'll beat you, too!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

The noonday break was now over. It was now time for the main event that everyone had been waiting impatiently for.

Still slightly afflicted from his conversation with Shoto, Izuku tried his best to clear his mind in preparation for the final event.

He walked back into the stadium and sweatdropped when he noticed all of the girls in his class wearing cheerleader outfits.

"Uhh…"

"Don't ask." Momo and Kyoka both quickly stated.

"But.."

"Don't. Ask."

In fear of his life, Izuku nodded frantically and kept walking until he found Katsuki standing by himself off to the side.

"Hey, Kacchan! Are you ready for the finals?"

Izuku could have sworn he saw a somewhat solemn look in Katsuki's eye, but quickly vanished.

"Shut up, Deku! Of course, I'm fucking ready! _You_ better be fucking ready!"

"Alright!" Midnight sauntered back onto the stage. "From the four teams that advanced past the last event, we have 16 individuals now. The final stage of the First Year Sports Festival is a one-on-one combat tournament! All of you will be pitted against each other in a straight-up brawl! There can only be one winner at the end of it all, and everyone knows a true hero has to be able to hold their own on a good old fashioned tussle!"

Basking in the cheers from the crowd and excited murmurs from the students, Nemuri held herself and shivered. "I can just _feel_ how excited everyone is, I love it!" She pulled a small box out of...somewhere...and held it up for all to see. "All right, now I'll determine who fights who through this lottery system. Once the matchups are set, there will be a few fun games for the other students who aren't competing, and then we'll commence! So, starting from team Yaoyorozu, let's draw lots to determine the order…"

"Umm… Excuse me!" All eyes turned to Ojiro, who had his hand up awkwardly. "I...wanna withdraw from the tournament…"

The crowd gasped as Mashiro's classmates voiced their protest to his declaration.

"Ojiro-kun! Why would you withdraw! This is a chance to show off to pros!"

The blonde sighed, averting his gaze from his friends. "To be honest with you...I don't remember anything that happened in the last even up until the last couple of seconds."

Izuku narrowed his eyes at that. He recalled that Ojiro was on that Shinso kid's team. He saw the purple-haired teen standing with Futaba off to the side. What could that mean?

"I know, it's supposed to be my big chance...But this is the place everyone earned by doing their best with their full power...It's not right for me to be standing here with this chance without even remembering how I got here. I just can't do it."

Several others tried to convince Ojiro to reconsider, but someone came between them to stop it.

"All of you shut the fuck up."

Katsuki stopped in front of Mashiro and stared at him. "Monkey boy. You do realize that you're pissing away a chance to be seen by pros in a competition directly suited to your strengths."

"I know! But, I just can't! My pride as a man is on the line here! I know in my heart I didn't earn this, so I refuse to accept it! A man's gotta have a code, Bakugo."

"What?! Come on, Ojiro-kun! That macho stuff is dumb! Just take the place!" Toru squeaked in fear as Katsuki loomed over her, a deep scowl on his face.

"You deaf or somethin'? He's out."

Many were surprised/impressed by Katsuki's actions, staring at him as he walked back to where he was originally standing.

"Thanks, Bakugo…" Ojiro smiled weakly at his roommate as Kirishima and Sero put comforting hands on his shoulder.

Much to everyone's surprise, the other non-Gen-ed member of Shinso's team, Nirengeki Shouda, also withdrew from the tournament under the same reasoning as Ojiro.

"How callow…" Midnight began with a dark expression, "I'll have you know that greenhorns like you….MAKE ME FEEL SO YOUTHFUL!" Her demeanour did a complete flip and she smiled madly at the two. "I officially recognize Shouda and Ojiro withdrawing from the final tournament! With that, it would mean that two members of Kendo's team would move up to take the empty places…"

Kendo bit her lip for a moment before shaking her head. "Actually, Midnight-Sensei! If any team should be advancing...It should be Tetsutetsu's team. They fought hard from start to finish and kept a high place until the end. They should get our spots."

"Kendo! That's so manly!" Tetsutetsu let out sparkling tears of joys, but quickly wiped them and frowned. "But...Shiozaki was the one who actually got us any points...The rest of us failed miserably to get any balloons!"

Ibara blushed slightly as her two other teammates nodded from behind her.

"Shiozaki should get a spot, but you should get one too! Your team still managed to place 5th!"

"Alright, I can see where this is going," Midnight interrupted. "This is getting out of hand! Just make a choice already!"

After a few minutes of arguing and selflessness to a ridiculous degree, a decision was finally made.

Getting up from laying on her side and examining her nails, Midnight stretched her now rigid muscles. "Finally! So now it's settled! Kendo and Shiozaki will take the empty spots and we now again have 16 competitors! The lots have also been drawn and here are the matchups!" Nemuri motioned to the big screen, which now displayed a large tournament bracket. "Behold!"

 **Midoriya** **VS** **Shinso**

 **Uraraka** **VS** **Kirishima**

 **Sero** **VS** **Todoroki**

 **Iida** **VS** **Hatsume**

 **Kaminari** **VS** **Shiozaki**

 **Tokoyami** **VS** **Yaoyorozu**

 **Ashido** **VS** **Futaba**

 **Kendo** **VS** **Bakugo**

"Looks like we're gonna face each other in the first round. Midoriya Izuku." Izuku turned his head as Shinso brushed past him.

"Hey—Urkg!" He tried to speak, but a fluffy tail had covered his mouth. The appendage pulled him towards its owner.

"Midoriya! Don't answer anything that guy says!"

Ojiro freed Izuku's mouth and stared at Shinso's back.

"Ojiro-kun? What do you mean?"

"Just come with me, I'll explain on the way."

"Okay!" Mic's voice echoed over the PA system, "Now that the matchups are set, let's put the tournament on hold for a moment and enjoy some fun activities! Anyone competing in the tournament itself is free to rest up or participate in the side games too if they'd like! We'll see you all back here for the main event before you know it!"


	14. Chapter 14

**Back again with another chapter!**

 **I'm actually really excited about the final tournament section of this Sports Festival arc. There is definitely some fun stuff in store for y'all, so be ready.**

 **I can't sleep anymore cause it's so fucking hot so hopefully, that means more time to write.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Todoroki Enji was never fond of reminiscing.

To him, it was a waste of time and energy to dwell on the past. To dwell on things that could not be changed. Staying stuck in the past brought nothing but distractions and unhappy memories.

So he didn't feel particularly jubilant as he walked through the halls of UA's First Year Arena. It had been almost 30 years since he was in this building, having competed here when he was attending UA as a teenager. It wasn't that he hadn't enjoyed his three years at the prestigious Hero Academy, but so much had happened within and around Enji that his youth felt almost imaginary.

To add to his already foul mood, he had sat through two of the Festival's events where his disobedient son had failed him yet again. Not only did Shoto fail to come in first both times, but he had also lost to some random kid with no heroic affiliations as far as he knew. It was shameful.

Rapid footsteps coming from down the hall made Enji pause on the staircase he was walking down, and he turned around in time to see a familiar annoying oaf slide into view.

" **Endeavour! Greetings, old friend!** "

"We have never been and never will be friends. Now what do you want, All Might?"

The blonde man stood up straight and thrust his hands onto his hips to strike a pose, " **Oh come on now! It's been far too long! We haven't had a good ole' fashioned talk since we had that chat ten years ago, right?! I just thought it would be nice to give you a shout!** "

Enji rolled his eyes impatiently, "Well are you satisfied, then? Now, leave me. I need to piss."

He tried to turn and walk away, but All Might appeared in front of him at the base of the staircase, blocking his path towards relieving himself.

" **You know your son, Young Todoroki was able to put on quite the display out there! Even without using half of his power. You must have trained him well, Endeavour!** "

Enji felt his flames growing hotter as his temper started to flare. He was never in the mood for All Might's stupid antics and having to urinate lowered his tolerance of the Number 1 Hero exponentially.

" **You gotta tell me! I'm dying for your advice and expertise in raising the next generations of great heroes!** "

"You'll never let go of that easy-breezy little attitude of yours, huh? How vexing." Enji brushed past All Might, slightly singeing the sleeve of his suit jacket. "You're more delusional and moronic than I thought if you think I'll teach you a damn thing about anything. Just remember, you buffoon...There will come a day when I'll have moulded that boy into a hero that shall surpass you and leave you in the dust where you belong. That ridiculous cretin is going through his rebellious phase right now...But he will grow out of it soon enough and he _will_ surpass you…"

Without another word, Endeavour stomped off. All Might let out a weary sigh. "Well, that went well…"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Looks like it's almost time…"

Izuku sat in his assigned waiting room waiting for the final tournament of the Festival to officially start. Leaning back in his chair, he rolled his neck as he gazed up at the small television mounted on the wall.

Cementoss was in charge of transforming the field in the stadium into a 1-on-1 arena. Using some sort of large tubing, the teacher masterfully guided the cement to his will. Under normal circumstances, Izuku would be taking rigorous notes on this display of one of the almost infinite uses for Cementoss' quirk.

He let out a deep breath. Leaning his elbows on the table, he tented his fingers to give a place for his chin to rest. "Shinso Hitoshi, huh?"

Ojiro had just finished explaining what he believed Shinso's quirk to be to Izuku. From what he could tell, the purple-headed teen had some sort of mind-control quirk that was voice-activated. As long as he finished the match quickly, he wouldn't be in any real trouble. At least he hoped so. Things never seemed to go as easy as they seemed for Izuku.

His train of thought was derailed as the door to his room swung open.

"HEY!"

"Oh, All Might!"

The scrawny man sauntered into the room and sat down across from Izuku.

"How are you holding up, Young Midoriya? Ready and raring to go, I hope!"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that…" Toshinori raised an eyebrow at his protege's somewhat downtrodden demeanour. He reached across the table and patted the young man on the shoulder.

"Hey, hey! What's with the look, Young Midoriya?"

Izuku sighed deeply, "Sorry, All Might. It's just...there's kind of a lot on my mind right now…" He didn't really want to get into it any further, but his mentor held a firm grip on his shoulder.

"Try me, kid." Moving back into his own seat, All Might crossed his arms on the table. "You know you can talk to me about anything, right? We share the eternal bond of carriers of the sacred quirk that is One For All; as beacons of hope and pillars of justice for each and every person we vow to protect!" Holding out an open hand, Toshinori balled it into a fist as he bulked up for a moment, " **And in addition to that, it is a teacher's duty to aid his student with every fibre of his being with any issues, school-related or otherwise!** "

Izuku chuckled lightly at his mentor. He was pretty sure most teachers weren't expected to aid students with every fibre of their being with _any_ issue, but he definitely appreciated the sentiment. Besides, he and All Might weren't your average teacher and student anyway.

"Well…" He began, twiddling his thumbs, "I'm kind of nervous for the tournament, but not exactly in the way that you think. It's not really my place to go into detail about...But I kind of got into some stuff with Todoroki-kun. At the time I was pretty confident and promised I'd beat him, but maybe it was just me getting caught up in the heat of the moment."

All Might listened patiently, nodding in understanding as he crossed his arms over his chest, "I believe I know what you are referring to, Young Midoriya." This made Izuku look up in surprise, "Endeavour doesn't necessarily keep it a secret. Most top tier pros that have been around long enough are aware of his...erm... _troubled_ family life. It's a shame really. Endeavour is such a great hero. His skills are top-notch and he's about as determined to succeed as they come. But...as a person, there leaves quite a bit to be desired. I don't know if he will ever be able to defeat the villain within him that has plagued him for so very long, but I suppose this isn't a conversation we need to be having. Especially right now." All Might cleared his throat in hopes of breaking the tension he had unintentionally created. "You know, Young Midoriya...It's admirable that even at this point, you can find yourself sympathizing with Young Todoroki about all this. But let's not forget about everything _you've_ experienced up until this point. Remember...To want to be the best like I've heard you proclaim before, you need to find it in yourself to focus. I can see that competitive fire within you fighting with your conscience for control right now. Just trust your instincts and keep your eyes on the prize." He got up to leave and paused in the doorway, "Put a smile on, kid. Push down that uneasiness and puff out your chest with pride! If you look confident, you'll feel confident. We'll be rootin' for ya." He said with a wave, shutting the door behind him.

After a few minutes, Izuku heard a knock on the door. A security bot peered into the room and motioned for him to follow. It was time for the first match.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Welcome back, everyone! Are you ready for the main event to end all main events?!"

Four pillars of flame shot up at each corner of the newly created stage around the fighting ring to add to the excitement Present Mic was stirring up with the crowd.

"The stage has been set! Literally! Down there within those white lines are where the true test begins! It's there that our wonderful competitors will duke it out! The only person you can rely on is yourself! Even non-heroes have to face things like this in life! Strength, constitution, dexterity, intelligence, wisdom, charisma! All of these key attributes will be put to the test as our students lay it all on the line for glory! Now let's get ready to RUMBLLLLLLLE!"

The crowd erupted as the first two competitors made their way into the arena from the opposite entrance tunnels.

"On this side, we have the young man who's been tearing up the Festival all day long! Will he keep his hot streak up? You'll have to just wait and see! He is Department of Heroics Class 1-A student rep: The lean, mean, green, fighting machine...Give it up for...Midoriya Izuku!"

Smiling brightly as All Might had advised him, Izuku cracked his knuckles as he walked forward up onto the platform he was meant to fight on. He felt his nerves creeping up, but managed to stay cool as his opponent walked up across from him.

"On the other side, we have another class rep! From the Department of General Education: Hitoshi Shinso!"

Izuku had to suppress a grimace after hearing how lacklustre Shinso's introduction was compared to his. The purple-haired teen calmly walked up to his place across from him, his hand rubbing on the back of his neck.

"The rules are pretty simple! This will be a 1-on-1 match that can be won in 3 possible ways! Having your opponent step outside of the ring, immobilizing them, or getting them to give up! Feel free to go all out! We have Recovery Girl and our medical staff at the ready! Oh, and this goes without saying, but you're not allowed to endanger each other's lives! That's wack! That would be an automatic DQ!"

From his freshly created cement lounge chair off to the side of the ring, Cementoss nodded, "That's right. If anything wack happens, I'll intervene and put a stop to it."

"And I…" Midnight greeted as she leapt down from the rafters, "Will be your sexy, youthful, gorgeous referee! Anything I say goes! If I call a match, it's over right then and there!"

As Midnight basked in the cheers being thrown her way, Hitoshi lowered his hand and glared right at Izuku.

"I'm sure you understand, Midoriya. This tournament is meant to test our will and determination. If you have a goal that you're dead set on achieving, then you have no time to worry about _how_ you're going to achieve it...That stupid monkey talked a lot about his 'pride' and why he didn't feel like he should be in this event...You don't think he's a fucking dumbass for throwing away his chances like that?"

Midnight called for the match to start and it took everything in Izuku not to immediately open his mouth.

Shinso was baiting him. He was trying to goad Izuku into responding just like Ojiro warned him he would.

"Uhhh, helloooo? Match started!" Mic voiced everyone's thoughts as the two competitors merely stood there staring at each other.

Not getting a rise out of Izuku like he had hoped, Hitoshi carried on his taunting, "You Hero Course kids get everything you want in life at every turn...So I guess you can't appreciate an opportunity even if it slaps you right in the face, huh?"

' _This bitch…_ ' Izuku narrowed his eyes, clenching his jaw to keep him from reflexively replying. He felt his anger bubbling up more and more as Hitoshi continued.

"You see, that's the problem with how all this works. People like you, like that chimp-boy, like everyone else in the Hero Department...You've never struggled for a damn thing...With that silver-spoon in your mouths, you have no idea what people like me are about."

Having had enough, Izuku growled and stepped forward.

"Worst of all is that guy who gave the opening speech today."

This caused Izuku to freeze mid-stride.

"He thinks 'cause of the position that he's in that he can treat people like garbage. That's the kind of person we are supposed to rely on to be a hero? Don't make me laugh. A selfish prick like that's got no business being in the Hero Course while the rest of us waste away on the sidelines. A villainous hero-in-training?"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP! YOU DON'T KNOW THE FIRST THING ABOUT KACCHAN!" As soon as the words left Izuku's mouth, an inner version of himself in his mind slammed his head into a brick wall.

"Now, victory is mine."

"No, Midoriya! I told you! I _warned_ you!" Mashirao held his head in his hands as his tail rapidly thumped the seat behind him.

"The fuck are you talking about, monkey boy? What did that shitstain do to Deku?"

The rest of Class A were all equally curious and confused. Sans Ochako and Eijiro (Who had already left to prepare for their upcoming match, everyone had listened to the words Shinso had thrown at Midoriya followed by the latter freezing in place like a statue.

"That guy, Shinso. His quirk gives him some kind of mind control over people. From what I could tell, it activates when you reply to anything he says. I told Midoriya all of that and he _still_ got caught up in Shinso's quirk."

"That retard! Damn it Deku! Only you could screw up this bad! He couldn't even get his head out of his ass fast enough to morph so he wouldn't be _able_ to reply and get caught!" Katsuki leaned over the railing and screamed down into the arena, "Deku, you fuck! Get outta that brainwashing shit and kick this purple-headed bitch's ass!"

Hitoshi rolled his eyes as he heard Katsuki yelling down at him from the stands. "How obnoxious." Turning back to the still petrified Izuku, he made a shooeing motion, "It must be nice to be so blessed, Midoriya. Now turn around and walk out of the ring."

Against his will, Izuku's body complied with Shinso's command.

' _Crap! Crap! Crap! Come on, body! Stop, damnit!'_ The edge of the ring was getting closer by the second. ' _Ojiro-kun even warned me about this and I still couldn't keep it together! It can't end like this! Not this pathetically!'_ Despite his best efforts, he could not find any way to bring his body back under his own control.

Still rooted in his original position, Hitoshi simply stood there waiting for the inevitable. He really just wanted to get the match over with and move onto the next round. Now that his gimmick was all but revealed, he had to come up with a new plan moving forward.

' **Ain't your momma ever tell you it was rude to enter somebody's home without permission?** '

Hitoshi widened his eyes. His head snapped around, but he couldn't figure out where that voice had just come from. It was almost as if…

' **Oh, so you're gonna barge into here and just ignore me? Some houseguest you are!** '

"That voice…" Hitoshi began trembling wildly. That voice was coming from _him_. But it sounded different? His eyes snapped to Izuku, who had stopped walking towards the edge of the ring. ' _How the hell did you break free from my quirk?! How are you talking to me?! Answer me, Midoriya!'_ He screamed in his head. Not once had anyone under the effect of Hitoshi's quirk had been able to communicate with him telepathically. As he understood it, his brainwashing blocked the target's consciousness from the rest of their body. They still knew what was going on around them but just didn't have control over themselves. He wasn't supposed to be able to hear their thoughts...So what was this?"

He heard the voice begin laughing hysterically. ' **You wish I was that freckle-faced fuck, kid! No...I'm much worse.** '

Hitoshi paled as the arena left his vision and he found himself standing in an almost pitch-black room. A dark green wolf emerged from the darkness, startling him onto his butt. The beast bore its razor-sharp fangs at the teen as it hovered above him, snarling angrily.

' **Boo.** '

The purple-haired teen jolted backwards in fear, finding himself now back in the ring and shaking like a madman. Much to his dismay, his fear had made him lose focus on his quirk, freeing Izuku.

'I'm free? I'm free!'

Hitoshi's opponent turned around to face him, eyes now back to their normal selves, growing brightly like shining green jewels. Still petrified by fear at what he had just experienced, he was not able to react when Izuku ran straight at him. He was punched right across the jaw and tumbled to the ground.

Hitoshi spit out a gob of blood and looked up at Izuku, who had a stone-faced expression.

"W-W-What the hell did you do to me?! Say something!" Shinso leapt back to his feet. "Your quirk truly is amazing, huh?! It could even get you out of mine? Someone with a blessed quirk like you would never understand my situation!" When Izuku didn't take the bait and say anything, Hitoshi growled in frustration. "Say something, you piece of shit!"

He threw a right hook as hard as he could, but Izuku easily caught it in his hand.

Izuku threw Hitoshi's hand back and grabbed him by the collar with both hands. He then ran in the direction of the edge of the ring, swivelling on his heel and flipping Shinso over his head and slamming him out of bounds.

The General Ed student felt the air escape his body as his back collided with the hard ground.

Midnight immediately threw an arm straight in the air. "Shinso-kun is out of bounds! The winner of the first match is Midoriya-kun!"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Thanks." Hitoshi put his tracksuit top back on as Recovery Girl's quirk finished healing his bruised back.

"No problem, dearie. You're free to go." The old woman said as she hobbled off.

He was about to get up to leave when the door to the infirmary station opened.

"Here to rub it in, Midoriya?"

Izuku sighed as he entered the room, sitting down in the empty bed next to Hitoshi's. "Lemme ask you something, Shinso-kun. What did you do when you found out that the UA Entrance Exam was going to be defeating robots?"

"The hell do you mean, 'What did I do?' I applied for Gen Ed. What other choice did I have?"

"So you immediately just gave up? That's it?"

Hitoshi narrowed his eyes, "You got a fucking problem with me, Midoriya? Is this what you came here for? To talk down to me even more? Lemme tell you something—"

"No, let me tell _you_ something." Izuku's harsh tone made Hitoshi shut his mouth, "You found out that your quirk wouldn't help you do well on the exam and so you just decided that was it. That's the kind of person who thinks he'll somehow usurp a spot from the Hero Department? I suppose you've never met some of the people in the Hero Course that might have more in common with you than you'd think. Hagakure Toru is in my class. She passed the exam even though all her quirk does is make her invisible. No power enhancement or offensive capabilities of any kind. Koda Koji is another person in my class. His quirk gives him the ability to communicate with animals. But the only animals that could have been in those training sites are maybe rats. Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you? Not everyone's quirk is built equally, that's obvious. But they took the cards they were dealt in life and tried their best to make up for their disadvantages. You took the cards you were dealt and folded. Beating the villain-bots also wasn't the only way to pass the exam either. If you helped any of the other participants, you got rescue points that were worth just as much as villain points.

Hitoshi stared at his lap, grimacing. His knuckles were white from how hard he was clenching his fists.

"Not everyone is born equal. And I'm not going to sit here and pretend like I know what you've had to deal with for you to be the way that you are. But if this is the best you can do, then the Hero Department doesn't need you." Izuku then got up and left for the door without another word.

Just as he was about to exit the room, Hitoshi jumped to his feet. "Fuck you, Midoriya! I'm gonna qualify for the Hero Department and show you all up as a great fucking hero! Just you wait and see!"

Not turning around, Izuku continued to walk away, briefly mimicking a talking mouth over his shoulder with his hand before turning down the hallway out of sight.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Izuku returned to his seat with the rest of his class to see that the first round was already almost completed. Things were going much faster than many people expected it would. Honestly, though...he wasn't entirely surprised. Oftentimes, a straight-up fight could be determined easily based on how the combatants' quirks matched up with each other. Especially at this skill level.

Uraraka's quirk made it so that Kirishima couldn't get near her, giving her a relatively easy victory.

Todoroki had immediately overpowered Sero with his ice. Definitely expected.

From what he was told by Ojiro, Iida's fight was much less of a fight and more of a glorified infomercial, but at least he still won.

Shiozaki's vines were able to ground Kaminari's electricity and gave her an easy win once he short-circuited himself. Izuku made sure to add that to his notes on her.

The one result so far that _did_ surprise him was how quickly Yaoyorozu had been defeated by Tokoyami. Sure, he and Dark Shadow were definitely a force to be reckoned with, but Izuku assumed Yaoyorozu would've been able to at least put up more of a fight than what he was informed had occurred.

"Midoriya-kun! Please enjoy some of this thirst-quenching orange-juice!" Tenya tossed him a bottle from a cooler he had brought to share with everyone. "You must stay hydrated and energized as much as possible for the battles to come!"

"Oh, thanks, Iida-kun!" Izuku took the drink gratefully, savouring the refreshing tang as he downed the entire bottle. "Whoa! This is the best orange juice I've ever had! Where'd you get it?" He grabbed another bottle and read the brand label. "Iida Family Farms?"

"That's right! You see, much like a real engine, I require fuel in order for my quirk to properly function! And nothing is better than an ice-cold bottle of Iida Family Farms Orange Juice! No added sugar or other additives, only 100% pure citrusy goodness! Drink up, my friends!"

Deciding to not mention the irony of Iida's pitch of his family's juice after his match with Hatsume, Izuku and the rest of the class gladly took the bespectacled teen up on his offer as the 7th match was about to begin.

"Alright folks! Our next pair of combatants are ready to go! On one side we have — Is something going to come out of those horns? Who knows? From the Hero Course, Ashido Mina!"

Mina smiled brightly as she limbered herself up or the match. "It's finally my turn to show my stuff!"

"And her opponent — She looks like she wouldn't hurt a fly with that innocent look and those blonde pigtails! From Gen Ed, it's Futaba Kaede!"

The small girl walked up into the ring, hiding the lower half of her face within her top's collar. Trembling slightly, she took a few deep breaths to try and calm herself down. She cast a glance up into the stands where the other Gen Ed students were sitting, where her classmates began shouting words of encouragement. Scanning the seats, she smiled when she caught sight of a familiar head of messy purple hair. Before her match, Kaede had gone to visit Shinso in the infirmary and was surprised to see him so determined. He had always _talked_ about trying to get into the Hero Course, but this was the first time she had seen that kind of look in his eyes. It was awe-inspiring.

Kaede had never aspired for very much in her life. Neither of her parents were heroes and they had not enormous expectations for her either. She was content with simply getting a decent job once she graduated and would live out a normal civilian life. There was also the issue of her quirk. She had never been too fond of using it, but her time at UA had begun to affect her. Meeting people like Midoriya and Shinso who were so dead-set on their goals got her thinking that maybe there were greater things she could achieve. ' _I'll do my best, too, Shinso-kun!_ '

"You girls ready? Start!" Once Midnight swung her arm down to signal the start of the match, Mina coated the soles of her shoes with her acid and began skating around the ring as if she were a figure-skater.

Kaede watched as Mina weaved all around her, keeping her head on a swivel so as to not leave herself open for a blindside attack. Once she felt as though she picked up on the movement pattern, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"Sorry, but I wanna win and move on to the next round!" Mina materialized some acid in her palm, hurling it towards the blonde. Much to her surprise, the ball of acid stopped midair, falling harmlessly to the ground a few feet away from her target.

Kaede's eyes slowly opened, revealing a pair of glowing white orbs where her once normal blue eyes were. " **I have to do my best, as well!** "

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

"Hn. It seems as though there are multiple hidden gems outside of the Hero Course."

Mic looked over at Eraser, who was holding Kaede's profile sheet in his casted hand.

"Futaba Kaede. She applied for the General Education Course at UA. Her grades are alright, but it seems she didn't have any desire to join the Hero Course. But with a quirk like _that_...It's hard to think about what she couldn't accomplish if she put her mind to it…"

"Huh? Whaddya mean, Eraser? What's her quirk?"

Aizawa peered back down to the ring. "Look for yourself."

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Mina skidded to a stop after several of her acid attacks failed to hit Kaede.

The blonde stuck both of her arms straight out at her sides as a small whirlwind began to pick up around her. The wind then lifted the girl off the ground, suspending her in midair.

"What the heck?! That quirk is wild!" Mina yelled as she shot a barrage of acid balls forward, crying in dismay when each one was repelled by the mini-tornado that had formed beneath Kaede's feet.

"Futaba Kaede! Quirk: Atmokinesis! She can manipulate different aspects of the weather! From twisters to snowstorms, she'll put you under the weather in no time! She feels the effects of the extreme weather to a degree, as well!"

"Yikes!" Mina cried as a gust of wind blew her up into the air. Thankfully, she was able to recover and flipped gracefully onto her feet. As soon as she landed, a sharp gust of wind blew by her face, leaving a small cut on her cheek. Mina sighed in relief. That was way too close for comfort. Kaede was a lot stronger than she looked. Controlling the weather?! That was overpowered!

" **I'm very sorry, Ashido-san. But I have to do my best!** " That layered voice that she now had also made the petite girl way more intimidating.

Kaede waved her arms, bending the violent streams of air around her to her whim. A dark, spherical cloud the size of a watermelon began to form before her. Small pieces of ice began to orbit around the cloud ball, which was now beginning to spark with an electric current. " **Weather Ball!** "

The orb was launched forward, impacting Mina head-on. The pink-skinned girl cried in pain as she was sent flying by the wind, pelted by hail and struck with lightning the entire way.

"What a power move by Futaba! Her Weather Ball attack sent Ashido flying! Who saw such power from such a cute girl, folks?!"

"She created a thundercloud and hailstorm out of thin air. That requires the ability to control the humidity and temperature around her. Very impressive." Eraser added some analysis to Mic's flashy commentary.

Mina landed flat on her back, still in the bounds of the ring, but out cold with a dazed expression on her face.

"Ashido-san is unable to continue! The winner of this match is Futaba-san!"

As the crowd exploded in cheers at the amazing display, the blonde girl slowly floated back down to the ground, collapsing as soon as her feet touched the ring.

The medical team carried both unconscious girls away, leaving the viewers of the match to excitedly discuss the results.

"Damn, who knew that Futaba girl would have such a strong quirk?"

"Yeah, it's surprising that she is in General Education and didn't apply for the Hero Department, kero."

Kyoka and Tsuyu's conversation halted when they heard a violent stream of mutters coming from Izuku, who had been scribbling madly in his notebook as soon as the match between Kaede and Mina had begun.

" _Atmokinesis is an incredibly powerful and versatile quirk! Futaba-san was able to generate strong enough winds to lift Ashido-san off of the ground and suspend herself in the air. Going off of that, there's no telling what kind of maneuverability she can pull off! Maybe she could even use it to fly long distances or deflect bullets! And that Weather Ball move allowed her to combine several different forms of weather manipulation in one fell swoop! I wonder what the exact limits of her weather manipulation and control are…'_ Izuku ceased his muttering when he looked up and saw his classmates all staring at him. "Oh...Hehe...Sorry." Izuku's eyes then widened to the size of saucers. "BATHROOM!" Knocking over the dozen bottles of orange juice he had drunk, Izuku sprinted out of the seating section in hopes of finding a restroom to relieve himself.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

*BAM*

The door flew open, almost coming off its hinges as it swung and slammed into the wall framing it.

"Hm?"

"Hm?"

Katsuki and Itsuka both stared at each other blankly, the former standing in the doorway with his foot out from just kicking open the door, the latter sitting at one of the tables in the waiting room.

"Fat hands? The fuck're you doing in here?!"

Itsuka rolled her eyes, "Can't you call me by my name, even once? You know what, whatever. What does it look like I'm doing? Our match is next, isn't it?"

Katsuki narrowed his eyes and plopped down in the chair across from Itsuka.

"What are you doing, Bakugo? It's kinda weird sitting and waiting with my opponent before a match. Can't you just—"

"The fuck's your problem?" Katsuki blurted out, staring at her with his arms crossed.

Itsuka gazed back with a frown, "Did you not hear what I just said? I said—" She paused when Katsuki leaned forward towards her, his face now uncomfortably close with hers.

With a slight blush on her face, Itsuka leaned back slightly with her hands held out in front of her, "Umm...you're kind of close."

"You're scared."

Her mouth opened in surprise, "Bakugo, please. I'm not—"

"You are. I can see that you fucking are." Itsuka clamped her mouth shut, annoyed at being interrupted for the umpteenth time. "Get that deer-in-the-headlights shitty ass look out of your eyes. It's pathetic. If this is how it's gonna be then your sorry ass might as well quit now and save me the trouble of kicking the shit outta you." Itsuka looked on wordlessly as Katsuki gruffly got up from his seat. "We both know I'm way fucking stronger than you. Either get your head out of your ass and take the beating that's coming to you with some goddamned backbone or quit now like the little runt sitting in front of me right now. Tch." He stomped out of the room, sparing one last distasteful glance before slamming the door behind him.

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Izuku exited the door to the men's room with an expression of pure bliss on his face. That was too close for comfort! He almost didn't make it in time and that would've been a _big_ problem.

"Wait…" Looking around, he realized in his hurry to find a toilet, he didn't know where exactly in the arena he was. "Crap. Which way did I come from…"

His ears perked up when he heard something faint coming from around the corner. It sounded like...Crying?

He went to investigate and when he peeked his head around the corner he saw a familiar spike of dark black hair atop a head buried within a pair of crossed arms.

"Yaoyorozu-san?"

The girl's head immediately shot up, clearly startled. "M-M-Midoriya-san?!" She quickly tried to wipe away the tears and snot that had been dripping down her face. "W-What are you doing here?"

"I...had to go to the bathroom? What are you doing here? And why are you crying?"

Izuku immediately flinched as those words left his mouth. ' _So not smooth, you idiot!'_

Momo averted Izuku's gaze, beginning to emit a noise that he faintly recognized as laughing? It may have been the absolute worst attempt at fake laughter that he had ever heard of in his entire life.

"D-Don't be ridiculous, Midoriya-san! I wasn't crying! I was...I was...just checking the arena's infrastructural integrity!" Momo began vigorously patting the cement wall she had been sitting against, "Hmm! Hmm! Feels very sturdy to me! Very sturdy indeed! You know, tens of people are injured every year in accidents involving inadequate arena infrastructure!"

"Uhh….Yaoyorozu-san?"

"In fact, I believe that since I have already started this task, it shall be my responsibility to check every square inch of the arena! I must get to work immediately, so if you'll excuse me, Midoriya-san!"

Just as she was about to flee, Izuku managed to grab her by the wrist and hold her in place.

"Please let go of me."

The fake bubbliness Momo had just displayed was completely gone. Her voice was low and weak, almost as if she didn't trust herself to get out another word without breaking down. She was trembling from head to toe. Izuku's grip on her wrist was definitely weak enough for her to break free if she really wanted to, but she remained still.

"Yaoyorozu-san...Please tell me what's wrong."

Her arm still hung loosely in his hand, but she refused to look at him. "You wouldn't understand."

For some reason, those words rubbed Izuku the wrong way. Shinso _had_ told him the same thing...But they barely knew each other. Paring that with Shinso's unique circumstances, it was pretty reasonable for him to not want to share or explain himself to Izuku.

But he and Yaoyorozu were friends...Weren't they? He didn't have a lot of close female friends before he met, so he wasn't all that used to talking about feelings and things like that. With Kacchan it was especially rare for either of them to really have a heart to heart like he'd hear about his female classmates mentioning.

"Yaoyorozu-san...I...I know I'm probably not the person you wanted to see right now...I bet if it was Uraraka-san or one of the other girls than it would be a lot easier for you...But we're friends, right? I hope you know that you can talk to me about anything. Well, most things…" He scratched his cheek with a slight blush before continuing, "You say that I wouldn't understand. But...Well, help me understand, then! I want to be able to help you or at least try to...Besides...A hero would never abandon a lovely young woman in need!"

After a few moments of silence, Momo turned so that her back was once again leaning against the cold concrete wall. She crossed her legs and stared down at her lap.

Izuku stared at her expectantly, waiting for her to finally say something. When she finally broke the silence with a weak fit of laughter, the greenette fell flat on his face.

"I'm sorry, Midoriya-san…" Momo's laughter died down and she sniffled, "That last line was... _really_ lame. But I do really appreciate your concern. Please don't believe that I don't see us as friends! It's just…You saw what happened in my match earlier with Tokoyami-san, right?"

Izuku shifted so that he was sitting identically to Momo, him looking straight ahead at the far wall. "I heard about it, more or less…"

Momo's shoulders tensed and she began running her thumbs over each other, "You must think I'm pretty pathetic...I talked so much about wanting to be a rival to you and seen as an equal adversary..Then I lose in such an embarrassing fashion like I did in front of thousands of people…What pro hero agency would even _look_ at someone like me after that?" More tears began to stream down her face and her voice began to tremble. "M-Maybe...M-Maybe I-I-I'm not cut out for this...We did so well in the Cavalry Battle thanks to your leadership, and the minute I was on my own without you there to rely on...I was a helpless little girl...M-Maybe I don't have what it takes to succeed as a hero…"

She was startled when Izuku grabbed her by the shoulders. He was holding her so firmly that she couldn't help but stare back at him as his piercing gaze bore into her. He looked...angry?

"M-Midoriya-san?"

"Don't you dare say that!" Izuku's tone was equally as intense as his expression and his iron grip held Momo locked in place. "Don't give me any of that crap!" Izuku shut his eyes, breathing in and out deeply before he let go of Momo. "I'm sorry, it's just…" He paused for a moment as Momo rubbed the spots on her arms where his fingers had painfully pressed down on them. He calmed himself down. That kind of talking wouldn't work with Yaoyorozu-san like it would work with people like Kacchan or Shinso. He needed to be clear and concise. Get his point across calmly. "Look, I want you to listen very carefully to what I have to say, Yaoyorozu-san. And please take what I say as genuine and honest from the heart as possible. What you said just now may have been the most ridiculous and idiotic thing I have ever heard anyone that I've ever met say."

"E-Excuse me?" Despite her state of sadness and self-pity, Momo still found it somewhere within herself to be shocked.

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry. Let me rephrase that. What you said just now was _definitely and without any shred of possible doubt_ the most ridiculous and idiotic thing I have ever heard anyone that I've ever met say." His expression softened, keeping Momo from interrupting him again. "You cannot sit here and try to tell me that you think that you don't belong here or that you won't be an absolutely incredible hero. You might be the smartest person I've ever met. The fine control and sheer knowledge needed to utilize you quirk as well as you do is nothing short of amazing. For UA to get you as a recommended student is one of the best investments in the school's history! Everything about you is so incredible and the most impressive part about any of it is how kind and humble of a person you are! You never let any of it get to your head and still did your best up until now. I've fought with and against you and I don't think there's anything clearer than the talent and potential you possess."

"B-But against Tokoyami-san, I…"

"Yeah, you lost. So?" Izuku's bluntness stung a little bit, but she still listened attentively. "It was one fight and he got the upper hand. It's not like Tokoyami-kun isn't really strong in his own right. If we all gave up on our dreams as soon as we failed, who would be left to help the world? If you can learn from your mistakes and become better because of it, you haven't really lost. Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

Momo managed a small smile, "Winston Churchill."

"See! Knowing who said that proves how smart you are! I read that from a fortune cookie!"

Although he was trying to be sem-serious, he couldn't help but let out a few chuckles once Momo started laughing.

"In all seriousness, Yaoyorozu-san...You have no right to think that you wouldn't make it as a hero. Are you forgetting what you did at the USJ? You made a freakin' bazooka and saved my life! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here right now. The same could be said for Kacchan _and_ Todoroki-kun. And All Might told me about how you even helped _him_ defeat the Nomu after we got beaten. Don't you get it? You're _already_ a better hero than most actual pro heroes!. So stop being so hard on yourself."

Izuku sat back down beside Momo, slightly out of breath from his speech. He had hoped that his words helped at least a little. Much to his gleeful surprise, Momo suddenly wrapped her arms around him from the side. Her face hidden in his shoulder, he could feel dampness beginning to form on his arm.

"Thank you, Midoriya-san." She said, squeezing him around his waist. She sniffled before releasing the boy, both of them having small blushes on their faces once they realized what she had just done.

Momo recoiled back to her original position, coughing into her fist. "Ahem. Sorry about that...I...I just felt like I needed to do that."

Izuku chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his head, "Don't worry about it."

Momo brought her knees up to her chest, locking her hands under her thighs. "I really mean it, Midoriya-san. Thank you." She turned her head to him and smiled. He returned her smile with one of her own, suddenly bringing warmth to her chest.

Was his smile always that bright? It was like she was staring directly at the sun for All Might's sake! Momo never really noticed before, but at this distance, she could see that Izuku's freckles were oriented in the shape of little diamonds. ' _Cute…'_

Momo snapped her eyes away from Izuku and looked forward with wide eyes. ' _Did I just…'_

Her face heated up as she realized her sudden thoughts. She was not blind to good-looking men, okay? She was a healthy young woman just like any other girl her age. She just didn't tend to care much about those things relative to much more important things like tea or reading. And _yes_...it may have been entirely possible that her absolute favourite things to read were mushy, over the top romance novels. So _yes_...It was possible that Momo considered herself a romantic of the highest degree and like any other _normal_ girl she _occasionally_ pictured herself in situations that the stories always stereotypically depicted. This made Momo realize that the current situation she was in with Midoriya might as well have been taken right out of one of her books. The cute boy consoling the distressed damsel, melting away all of her worries with his comforting words and in turn melting away all of the inhibitions around her heart. The girl sees how amazing the boy is and that they are all alone together, the mood being set perfectly without either of them even realizing it. She throws her caution to the wind, acting purely on passion as she grabs him by the collar, smashing their lips together in a spontaneous combustion of intense emotion and…

' _Wait wait wait wait wait! TIME OUT!'_ Momo had to physically restrain herself from yelping as her mind had almost taken a very, very, _very_ wild turn. Her face was burning and she could feel her heart threatening to burst out of her chest.

Thankfully, she was saved from any further crisis as Mic's voice boomed over the PA system.

"Alright, folks it is finally time! The final match of the first round is just about ready to start! The question is...are YOU ready?!"

"Oh, it's time for Kacchan and Kendo-san's match!" He turned to look down at Momo, who would look anywhere but back up at him. "Do you want to watch? It's okay if you're not ready to go back out there. I can—"

"NO! I mean…" Momo got to her feet, straightening her tracksuit anxiously. "Ahem. Let's go watch the match."

"Are you sure? I don't really m—"

"I insist, Midoriya-san!" She spun him around and began pushing Izuku forward down the hall. Partly so he would stop resisting and partly so that he would not be able to see the flustered expression she was wearing.

He finally relented and began walking in front of her on his own, allowing her to sigh in relief. As they made their way down the corridor, Momo stared at Izuku's back the whole way. The butterflies in her stomach refused to subside, and she mentally groaned as she could see where this could be going.

"Oh dear…"

 **B ~ E ~ A ~ S ~ T** **M ~ O ~ D ~ E**

Much to her annoyance, Ms. Joke had not allowed Tatami to go and talk to Izuku at any point during the Festival. Apparently she was worried that she "would be a distraction" and that there would be time later in the day to find him before they left.

"Nakagame, Shindo. What do you think about this last matchup?"

Being the one actually paying attention, Yo pondered the question. "Well that Bakugo kid seems to have some pretty sharp skills. And under most circumstances, it would probably be a little worrying to think about how loose this guy's screws are...But with his quirk...It honestly is beneficial for 1-on-1 combat. The girl he's facing seems to be geared towards close-quarters fights as well, so it's probably a bad matchup since she may not be able to keep him at a distance."

Emi rubbed her chin thoughtfully for a moment before nodding, "Well said, Shindo! What about you, Nakagame? What say you?" She had to stifle a giggle as Tatami ignored them completely. The young blonde seemed to be scanning the stands for someone. ' _Someone.'_ Surely she was searching for a certain green-haired UA student who had captured her heart.

"Uhh...Nakagame?" Yo was totally lost as to what was happening. Tatami was completely ignoring their conversation and looked really distracted. Joke-Sensei didn't seem to mind though, finding it funny for some reason. Well, Sensei found a lot of weird things funny, so...I guess that was normal.

"Don't worry about her, Shindo. It's a girl thing." He shrugged, accepting her half-assed explanation. He figured it was better not to pry into whatever 'girl things' were.

Tatami continued to search high and low among the bleachers to try and find Izuku. She grew excited as she caught sight of a small sea of UA tracksuits sitting in the lower bowl beside the announcer's box. She went down the rows of students, smile dropping more and more as each one failed to resemble her crush. ' _Aha!'_ She finally caught sight of that adorable little green head of hair. He was just returning to his seat...With an incredibly beautiful girl?!

She squinted to try and get a better look...and her heart sank. That black-haired bimbo was sitting right next to Izuku!

Tatami ground her teeth as the barely visible scene burned its way into her mind.

Did she trust her not-boyfriend-but-pretty-much-almost-totally-might-as-well-be-her-boyfriend to not flirt around with other girls? Of course!

But she had no mercy for any bitch who wanted to get with her Izuku! That Yaoyorozu chick was no exception!

Was she possibly jumping to conclusions and completely overreacting to what might be a purely platonic friendship between two classmates that happen to be a boy and a girl? Sure. But there was _also_ a non-zero chance that that big-titted, silky-haired, amazoness-legged skank was trying to put the moves on _her_ man!

"I need to use the bathroom!" Tatami quickly scrambled to her feet and shimmied through the aisle.

"But the next match is about to start!" Yo called as she dashed up the stairs into the tunnel. His shoulders slumped and he turned back to sit down in his seat. He looked to see his teacher giving him an expectant frown. "Girl thing?"

She nodded with a smile, patting the sulking teen on the head.

"Alright, party people, we've waited long enough. Here are your fighters for this epic final match of the first round! On this side — The boy who's been famous since he was attacked by a sludge villain in middle school! But he's got a face only a mother could love! Look at that scowl! It's Bakugo Katsuki of the Hero Department!"

Completely ignoring Katsuki's anger over his introduction, Mic swung his arm over his head, pointing to the other side of the ring. "And his opponent, also from the Hero Department — Give a _big hand_ —- See what I did there? It's Kendo Itsuka!"

As the two of them walked up to their spots in the ring, Katsuki gave Itsuka a cold stare.

To his slight surprise, she returned his look with a determined gaze of her own.

"You won't intimidate me, Bakugo. I'm gonna make you eat your words and beat you!" Her defiant aura faltered a little when she caught the slightest hint of a smirk make its way Katuski's face.

"You wanna talk all that shit, but you ain't gonna be talking once I kick your sorry strawberry-headed ass. Oi, Midnight! Start this shit already!"

"Hey! I'm the referee here! Not you! See this?!" She yelled, holding up a little silver whistle, "This means referee! Got it?!" She huffed when Katsuki completely ignored her and her authority, cracking his knuckles as he stared down Itsuka. "Fine! But I'm not starting the match because you told me to, you got that?! I'm starting it because _I_ decided that the match should start now!" She threw her hand up, quickly swinging it downward, "Begin!...lousy brats…"

Katsuki immediately lunged forward with a battle cry. He thrust his sparking palm forward, aiming to strike Itsuka head-on.

She was no push-over when it came to hand-to-hand combat, however. She managed to deflect Katsuki's attack, repeating the action several more times as the explosion-quirk user attempted to follow up his initial strike with a barrage of blows.

Itsuka managed to backpedal to a safe distance, wincing as smoke trails rolled off numerous spots on her singed arms and tracksuit.

Katsuki gave her no time to rest, charging back in for more. "Where's all that talking now, huh?! Not even gonna use your fat hands, fat hands?!"

With a growl, Itsuka weaved to the side of one of Katsuki's overextended swings. "Take this!" She activated her quirk, expanding both her hands and interlocking her fingers, then swung at Katsuki with a giant axe-handle smash.

Katsuki reacted in a flash, throwing both of his hands forward and meeting her strike with a pair of explosions. The force repelled the pair of hands, leaving Itsuka wide open for Katsuki to slam her with an explosion in her side.

She gasped in pain as she was sent tumbling across the ring. Gripping her side, Itsuka slowly pushed herself up. ' _I can't let him keep this up! I have to strike fast before he overwhelms me…'_

Katsuki slowly walked towards her as the cloud of dust formed by her impact with the ground mixed with his quirk began to disperse. "Get up! You ain't dead yet!" Itsuka attempted to throw a giant jab at Katsuki but he easily sidestepped it. "Too damn slow!" He swept an explosion up at her that sent her flying backwards. As she lay in a heap on the ground, Katsuki began slowly advancing once more. "You had enough, yet?!"

Itsuka somehow managed to get up to her hands and knees. Her fist clenched as she gritted her teeth. Her body was aching all over. She felt dizzy. "Not yet….I'M NOT DONE YET!" She threw a handful of dust up at Katsuki, who grimaced in pain at the cheap shot.

"GAHH! You little bitch!"

Now with an opening, Itsuka mustered the strength to rise to her feet. She reared her giant fist back, dashing forward at Katsuki. "ORAAAAAAAA!" Her large punch landed square, sending Katsuki rocketing backwards. He landed hard on the ground with a resounding CRASH.

Itsuka shrank her fist back to normal size, panting and barely able to stand. She had put everything she had into that last attack. Was it enough?

"Finally!" Katsuki yelled, sitting up and wiping his jaw. "Finally you show some fucking spine! It's about damn time!" He rose to his feet, now with a sadistic grin on his face. "Keep coming at me with that shit or you got less of a fucking chance than the no chance you already had! Bring it!"

Pushing herself to the absolute limit, Itsuka ran forward. ' _I only have enough strength left for one more attack, so I have to make it count_!' She enlarged her hands, using them to propel her up into the air. Now high above Katsuki, Itsuka spun forward, intent on hammering down on Katsuki with her giant fist. "HAAAAAAAAAA!"

Katsuki had not budged from his position. He held his arms out, looking upward and poised to combat Itsuka's attack with one of his own.

The two teens clashed as Itsuka's hands slammed down against Katsuki's explosion. However, the ash-blonde kicked his quirk into high gear, pushing out even more sweat into his palm. With one hand gripping his other forearm to support the blast, Katsuki roared as he sent a massive explosion upwards, completely enveloping Itsuka.

The crushing blow sent Itsuka to the ground, negating her all-out attack and incapacitating her in one fell swoop.

Katsuki slowly lowered his spasming arm, breathing heavily all the while.

Midnight ran into the ring, checking on the fallen girl. She shook her head and waved for the medical staff. "Kendo-san is unable to continue. Bakugo-kun is the winner!"


End file.
